


heartbeat pounding this is the moment

by SJAandDWfan



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, cause all i wanted growing up was for someone to combine horse riding with the gay, so i did it myself, the equestrian olympic au nobody asked for but i wrote anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2018-12-22 08:09:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 68,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11963265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SJAandDWfan/pseuds/SJAandDWfan
Summary: Waverly’s face broke out into a smile, but before she could type a reply, a second message from Nicole popped up. It read:'Also, how do you know we don’t live far from each other? :) x'Ah. Cheeks burning, Waverly tried to think of a reply that didn’t involve Facebook stalking her after running into her briefly at an Event in Dorset earlier in the season. She didn’t want Nicole to think she was weird.Nicole must’ve seen she had read the message without replying, because the next thing Waverly knew, she heard the ping of the laptop telling her she had a friend request from one Nicole Haught, followed by another message.'There, now you don’t have to pretend you weren’t reading my profile ;) x'orWaverly and Nicole are both high level Eventing riders gunning for Olympic selection, Peacemaker is a horse who's too smart for his own good, and it's only a matter of time before Waverly realises how bad she's got it for Nicole.





	1. Tartas

**Author's Note:**

> Basically I wrote this cause it's something I was robbed of reading books as I was growing up. It's probably too niche but hey, no stopping me now! They're in the UK cause as much as I wanted to set it in Canada, they seem to have a lack of international competitions, and I know the Eventing scene in the UK a lot better!
> 
> Spot the references to the show in the names of most of the horses!
> 
> Also, it wasn't meant to be this long already... it got away from me a little bit.
> 
> I have four or five chapters planned for this, depending on the lengths of each chapter, and hopefully the wait in between won't be too long!
> 
> Title from "Change Your Mind" by The Summer Set - I've always thought of it as a Wayhaught song :)

Waverly sat at the kitchen table with her laptop in front of her, her finger hovering over the enter key. She chewed a fingernail nervously, mentally scolding herself immediately afterwards. It wasn’t a big deal. It shouldn’t be a big deal. Still…

She re-read her message for what felt like the hundredth time:

_Hey, I know we don’t really know each other that well but word is you’re competing at Tartas in a couple of weeks and I was wondering whether you wanted to hitch a ride with my sisters and I, to save on fuel and ferry costs? Of course you don’t have to at all, I just thought I’d offer seeing as we’re not far away from each other and we’re both Canadians living in the UK and who doesn’t want to save money right? Let me know!_

Waverly’s brow furrowed. Maybe the message was too eager. Or maybe it wasn’t friendly enough. She considered for a second, then typed a smiley face at the end and hit enter before she could question it any more. If Nicole Haught wanted to reply to or ignore the message, that was up to her now.

She waited for a couple of minutes before checking the clock and realising she still needed to feed the horses their dinner. Wynonna and Willa were out looking at a potential new breeding mare for the yard, so Waverly would have to do all the work tonight.

Sighing, she closed her laptop and pulled her boots on by the door before stepping out of the farmhouse and down the gravel track to the stable block. She pulled her jacket a bit tighter around herself to stop the cold air seeping in. It was only April still, and England wasn’t that warm even in the heat of summer. Still, she was a Calgary girl born and bred, so it wasn’t anything she was unused to.

Waverly walked past the stable block to the fields where the horses were grazing and resigned herself to the long task of fetching them all in. She started with her own competition horses in the closest paddock, whistling to them as soon as she was in earshot. Both horses’ heads shot up, and they broke into a trot as she approached the gate.

She couldn’t help but smile at their eagerness. No doubt some of it was because they knew they would be fed soon but Waverly knew these animals loved her just as she loved them. She’d never really been a ‘horse girl’ as a child, not like Willa, but she learned to ride all the same. Soon she had found a passion for it, and had gotten better at it, and then she had started competing and never really looked back.

Peacemaker reached the gate first. He was an eleven year old gun-steel grey thoroughbred, and Waverly’s top competition horse. He was the one her dreams were riding on, and he knew it. Right behind him was Waverly’s other ride, a golden palomino crossbreed named Pikachu. Waverly was a bit embarrassed to tell people she had named him after her childhood hamster, but in her defence, she named him as a foal when she was fourteen years old and thought she was funny. Pikachu was the first horse her family had bred, and he had been born in Canada seven years ago. He and Peacemaker, and a couple of the other horses had made the move to the UK with them three years ago, and the rest they had acquired since then.

Waverly unhooked the halters from the edge of the gate and fastened them around the horses’ heads. She opened the gate and clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth to get them moving, and led them one each side of her to the big American-style barn, throwing Peacemaker’s rope over his neck while she put Pikachu in his stable. When she had unfastened the halter and left his stable, she found Peacemaker already standing in his own stall with what could only be described as a smug expression on his face.

“Yes, you’re very clever,” Waverly rolled her eyes fondly as she took off his halter. “Give me a minute to get the others and you can have your dinner then, okay?”

Peacemaker sneezed on her.

*****

There were quite a few more horses to bring in. Next were Willa’s two competition horses; the huge jet-black mare Eve and the dark chestnut gelding Bear. After that was the pregnant broodmare, due to give birth in early July, and the two year old colt the Earps hoped would be another competition horse in the future. Last to bring in was the bad-tempered Shetland pony that belonged to Wynonna.

“C’mon, Whiskey,” Waverly pleaded as the devil held his ground. _Of course Wynonna named him after her drink of choice,_ she thought as she tugged on the rope, but still the small pony wouldn’t budge. “There’ll be food inside. You like food, remember?”

Evidently Whiskey did remember, because next thing Waverly knew, she was jogging to keep up with his little legs as he sped towards the barn. Waverly really didn’t understand him; and he only really liked Wynonna anyway. He was sort of their mascot, in a way, as he was too small to ride. His job ended up being the companion to the foals when they were separated from their mother. He’d been that for Pikachu, and for the two year old now, and it was likely that he’d end up being that for the new foal come next year.

Once she had all the horses in the barn, she set about mixing up their feeds and handing them out. Next came refilling water buckets and giving them each a pile of hay to snack on overnight. The stalls had already been mucked out earlier in the day by Chrissy, Waverly’s groom and long-time friend, so at least she didn’t have to worry about that. It was tiring work if you weren’t used to it, but Waverly had been doing this pretty much her whole life, so it wasn’t long before she had finished and was saying goodnight to the horses, before turning out the lights and making her way back to the farmhouse.

Wynonna and Willa still hadn’t returned, so Waverly went back to her computer and saw that she had a message. Not quite sure why her heart was beating so fast, she opened the message from Nicole Haught:

_Hi Waverly, that’s a really kind offer. If you’re sure, then I’d love to take you up on it! If I can do anything for you in return let me know x_

Waverly’s face broke out into a smile, but before she could type a reply, a second message from Nicole popped up. It read:

_Also, how do you know we don’t live far from each other? :) x_

Ah. Cheeks burning, Waverly tried to think of a reply that didn’t involve Facebook stalking her after running into her briefly at an Event in Dorset earlier in the season. She didn’t want Nicole to think she was weird.

Nicole must’ve seen she had read the message without replying, because the next thing Waverly knew, she heard the ping of the laptop telling her she had a friend request from one Nicole Haught, followed by another message.

_There, now you don’t have to pretend you weren’t reading my profile ;) x_

Waverly flailed for a moment, then clicked the ‘Accept’ button on the friend request. As an afterthought, she finally typed out a reply to Nicole.

_I was just browsing and happened to notice your location, don’t worry_

She added an ‘x’ to the end of the message and hit send. Nicole’s replies came almost instantaneously.

_Never said I was worried x_

_Thanks again for the offer, this is very sweet of you x_

_I’d message you my address but somehow I don’t think you need it ;) x_

Waverly shook her head in disbelief. She couldn’t tell if Nicole was making fun of her or if this was just how she talked to people. She was saved from wondering whether or not she should reply by the front door opening and her two sisters storming in, bickering.

“Come on, Willa, I actually liked this one! Do you know how rare that is?” Wynonna said as Willa stormed past into the living room.

“And I don’t think that horse is good enough for the bloodlines we want!” Willa shouted from the other room.

Wynonna groaned and Waverly rolled her eyes. It was going to be another long evening.

*****

A week of planning and packing later, and they were ready to leave for France. It was early on a Tuesday morning, and they had allowed for two days of travel to make it easier on the horses, and had already arranged an overnight stop near Le Mans. After checking they had both their own and their horses’ passports for the millionth time, Waverly hopped into the cab next to Willa, with Wynonna at the wheel and Chrissy keeping an eye on the horses from the living area of the lorry.

“Where’s Haught’s yard again, babygirl”? Wynonna asked as the lorry slowly chugged up the driveway.

“Um, twenty minutes east of us,” Waverly said. “Nicole said to get onto the main road and follow that and we’d find it.”

Wynonna nodded and the rest of the trip passed in silence, until they spotted Nicole’s yard and pulled off the road onto a tarmac driveway with fields either side. Horses raised their heads from grazing to check out the visitors in the early light, and before long they reached the main yard.

Nicole’s stables were different to the Earp’s, Waverly noticed. Instead of a barn, she had a block in an L shape overlooking a sizeable ménage with a few jumps set up in it. The only occupied stable was at the end; this was presumably Nicole’s horse of choice for Tartas.

As Wynonna pulled up and parked, Waverly saw a figure emerge from an annex to the stable block, carrying a saddle. Even though Waverly had only seen Nicole a couple of times at competitions here and there, the red hair was a dead giveaway. She scrambled out of the cab.

“Hey there,” Nicole greeted, far too cheery for the early hour. “I’m all ready to go, just tell me where I can put my equipment and then we can get going.”

Waverly smiled at her, hoping it didn’t come off as a grimace. “Uh, here should be fine,” she said, opening up one of the side compartments on the outside of the lorry to reveal an empty saddle rack and bridle hook. Nicole hefted the heavy leather saddle onto the rack, turning to brush off her jeans and shoot Waverly a grateful look. “Thanks again for this, by the way.”

“Not a problem,” Waverly said, fully taking in Nicole’s presence. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she was wearing a simple pullover hoodie and boots, with a face clear of make up. She smiled easily, seemingly not feeling at all awkward about getting a ride with a relative stranger. Nicole’s eyebrows raised slightly, and Waverly realised she had been staring.

She was saved from further embarrassment by a commotion behind her, and looked back to see a young man laden with another saddle, two bridles, and a box that presumably had horse boots and various other extras in it.

“Sorry!” He said, wincing as the box went crashing to the floor.

Nicole rushed over to him and took the saddle from his arms. “Jeremy, I told you not to take this all at once,” she chastised him, but she didn’t sound mad, and Jeremy grinned sheepishly at her.

“I know, I just thought I’d really improved my strength recently, so I thought I’d see if I could carry all this stuff at once but I guess I’m not as strong as I thought I was so next time-“

“Who’s this dude?” Wynonna interrupted, jerking a thumb in the young man’s direction.

“Jeremy, he’s my head groom, so be nice to him cause he’s coming too,” Nicole said, and Jeremy gave them all a small wave which only Waverly returned. Willa glared, and Wynonna cocked her head to the side, regarding Jeremy closely.

“Hope you don’t mind being the only dude in this party, I know we’re pretty hard to resist,” she said, and Waverly noticed a small smirk cross Nicole’s face.

“I’m sure he’ll live,” Nicole said, patting Jeremy on the shoulder as she headed towards the stables. “Jeremy, could you get our bags while I get our superstar?”

“Sure thing!” Jeremy looked relieved to make a getaway.

Nicole opened the bolt on the stable door and swung it open to reveal a horse who was pretty much the exact same colour as its owner’s hair. Waverly bit back a smile, thinking how perfectly rider and horse complimented each other, looks-wise.

“This is Annie Oakley,” Nicole introduced her mare to them, and Waverly stepped forwards to say hello. Annie sniffed her sleeve and snorted gently, and Waverly stroked down her face, cooing at her. She really was quite a beauty; strong and muscled, yet sleek and elegant, with a broad white blaze down the centre of her face. She’d seen Annie from a distance at some competitions and had even seen her and Nicole on the television at Badminton Horse Trials last year, but she was even more impressive up close.

Waverly scratched the mare’s forehead and looked up to see Nicole smiling at her.

“Are we gonna go, or just stand here making eyes at a horse all day?” Wynonna cut in, swinging the lorry keys around her finger and promptly dropping them on the floor. Waverly stepped back from Annie and Nicole blinked, back to business.

They lowered the ramp and Nicole led Annie up and tied her in the end partition just as Jeremy reappeared with two suitcases and a rucksack.

“Passports?” Nicole questioned.

“In the front pocket of the rucksack,” Jeremy confirmed. “I triple checked.”

Wynonna clapped her hands together.

“How about we get this show on the road, ladies? And Jeremy.”

*****

An hour into their journey found Waverly, Chrissy, Nicole and Jeremy chatting in the living section of the lorry. Wynonna was still driving, and Willa was riding in the cab with her; Waverly hadn’t missed the dirty look her eldest sister had sent her way when she opted to ride in the living with the others.

Currently Jeremy was recounting the story of a time he was carrying a water bucket to wash Annie off after a Cross Country round and spilling the vast majority on himself instead, which had Chrissy sniggering and Nicole shaking her head fondly. The four of them were sat at the table, Waverly next to Chrissy and opposite Nicole. Pretty soon the conversations separated, and Waverly found herself talking pretty much just to Nicole as Jeremy and Chrissy swapped groom horror stories.

“So is your sister not a morning person then?” Nicole asked.

“Which one?”

“The glaring one.”

Waverly laughed. “You’re gonna have to be more specific; they both do that.”

“The not-driving one. Willa, right?”

“Yeah, um,” Waverly paused. “I guess she wanted me to ride in the cab with them?”

“Why didn’t you?” Nicole asked casually.

“I don’t know, I guess it’s just easier to talk to everyone if I’m not craning my head around every time I want to say something.” Waverly shrugged. “Or maybe a I’m just a rebel who doesn’t want to wear a seatbelt.”

Nicole smiled at that, and Waverly caught a flash of dimpled cheeks.

“Tell me about Annie Oakley,” Waverly prompted, “Did you name her?”

“Yep,” Nicole said, “She’s twelve and I’ve been training her since she was an unbroken three year old; she hadn’t been registered when I got the ride so I got to pick her name. It just seemed to fit her, y’know? She’s a go-getter on the course.”

“Yeah, you were at Badminton last year, right?”

“Yeah, that was my first time there, if you can believe it. I guess when I lived in Canada the trip never seemed worth it. But once I moved here, I wanted to give it a go. Have you ever been?”

“Only to watch,” Waverly said, “I only started competing at four star level last year and I thought Badminton was a bit too scary to start with, but I want to do it this year.”

“The Olympic selectors are gonna be there,” Nicole commented.

Waverly grinned. “That’s the idea. I’ve been on a couple of young rider teams but, man, do I want to go to the Olympics.”

“Me too,” Nicole sighed. “I mean, I went as an individual last time, but I think it’s a lot different when you’re part of a team.”

“Hold up,” Waverly gaped at her. “You went to the Olympics?”

Nicole nodded sheepishly. “Yeah, I was only twenty so I was in over my head. I got round, but I was pretty near the bottom of the order. I wasn’t on my own horse either, I was riding him for someone else.”

“Still!” Waverly was impressed.

“Yeah, and then the owners sold the horse and now I guess someone else is riding him, but I haven’t seen him at any competitions so I assume he’s abroad.” Nicole sighed, and Waverly got it. If you didn’t own the horse, there was only so much you could do to keep hold of your opportunities to ride. Even the owners of world champions would sell their horse if they were offered the right price. Waverly had seen it happen time and time again, and she had never been more grateful that Pikachu had been hers since birth, and that Peacemaker’s owner would never sell him.

“That sucks,” Waverly said, not sure what else she could do or say to make it better.

Nicole shrugged. “It’s not the first time it’s happened, and it certainly won’t be the last. Did you know Annie’s old owners tried to sell her last year?”

“What? No, I had no idea. I guess I just assumed she was yours,” Waverly said.

“Well, she is now. I made them a better offer and since I had already been riding her, they sold her to me instead. I couldn’t imagine anyone else competing her.” Nicole glanced behind Waverly at the door to the horse compartment, happy at the knowledge her horse was safe inside.

“For what it’s worth, I can’t imagine anyone else competing her either,” Waverly said quietly, and Nicole smiled softly at her. Waverly felt hot under her gaze, and her mouth insisted on saying more words. “I mean, look at your hair! Nobody else would, um, match that.”

Nicole grinned wider, dimples on full display this time, and Waverly was unable to look away.

“Sorry, what?” Chrissy said, and Waverly looked over to find both her and Nicole’s grooms looking at them in confusion.

“What? Nothing,” Waverly said, shooting Chrissy a glare for daring to look so amused. Chrissy narrowed her eyes in a gesture Waverly knew to mean _we’re gonna talk about this later_.

“Hey, assholes!” Wynonna shouted from up front, “We’re gonna take a pee stop at the next gas station, don’t spend all your allowance at once.”

*****

It was about a four hour drive to Dover in the lorry, including the break. Their passports were checked, and the horses’ ones were glanced over, although customs didn’t seem as bothered about them for some reason. They had a half hour wait for the ferry, and so they found their assigned lane and parked up.

Wynonna lowered the back ramp of the lorry to give the horses some fresh air, and Waverly filled a bucket of water from one of the big containers they had stored and gave all three of the horses a drink, while checking for any bumps or bruises. So far, they were unblemished and pretty calm about the whole affair. Being top level Eventing horses, they were used to travelling by boat and some of them even by plane, so the atmosphere of the port didn’t bother them.

Before long they were being directed to board the ferry. Wynonna slowly eased the lorry down the ramp into the lowest deck where all the heaviest vehicles were being held. Because they had livestock, some workers came and added additional security to the wheels, bolting down the lorry to the floor with strong elasticated tapes. For the next hour and a half, the horses would be left down here while everyone was up on the deck. Although Waverly always got a little nervous about leaving them, it wasn’t the first time Eve or Peacemaker (or even Annie, according to Nicole) had been on the ferry, and a smooth crossing was expected, so Waverly calmed her nerves and followed the others up endless flights of stairs to the top deck.

Nicole was quiet for the duration of the ferry ride, fidgeting in her seat.

“You okay?” Waverly murmured.

“Just um, get a bit seasick on the ferry is all,” Nicole admitted, pulling up her sleeve to reveal an acupressure wristband. “It’s always been my least favourite part of the trips abroad. Cars and planes I’m fine with, but boats…”

Waverly rubbed her upper arm in what she hoped was a comforting gesture.

“Ooh, Haught-stuff isn’t looking so hot,” Wynonna ribbed her good-naturedly, and Nicole rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, like I’ve never heard that one before.”

“Just trying to take your mind off your stomach,” Wynonna shrugged.

“I’m cured,” Nicole deadpanned, and Waverly bit back a laugh. Wynonna narrowed her eyes at Nicole for a long moment, before a sly grin broke out on her face.

“I like this one,” she decided aloud.

*****

Thankfully, they made it through the ferry ride without Nicole’s breakfast making a reappearance, and once they were through the port at Calais (“Remember, Wynonna, drive on the right now,”) they decided that stopping for lunch would be a good idea.

Once they were back on the road and heading south, Waverly checked the road map and groaned internally when she saw just how far down the country Tartas was. She was glad they were splitting this trip into two days. Still, they had another couple of hours to go until they reached their overnight stop. So she leaned back in her seat and put an earbud in, hitting shuffle on the most relaxing of her playlists and letting her head drop onto Chrissy’s shoulder while Nicole and Jeremy chatted animatedly across from her.

She didn’t even realise she had fallen asleep until she was being shaken awake by Chrissy.

“We’re here,” she said, and Waverly nodded, wincing as she pulled the earbud out. She really had to stop falling asleep with headphones in. She yawned and stretched, not noticing the others avoiding meeting her eyes. It wasn’t until she saw Wynonna near the back of the lorry that she realised something was up. Her older sister took one look at her and dissolved into obnoxious laughter, leaning against the back of the lorry for support.

“What?”

“Your – your _face_!” Wynonna spluttered. “Shit, I’m getting light-headed.”

Waverly frowned, and dug in the pocket of her jeans for her phone. Switching the front facing camera on, her eyes went wide as she saw what had been scribbled on her face.

“ _Chrissy_!”

*****

Their overnight stop was a sprawling stable block and riding centre just outside Le Mans. It was the type of place that tourists came to for a riding holiday, regardless of whether not they could actually ride a horse. Willa went to sort out payment with the manager, while the rest of them unloaded the horses from the lorry. The horses looked around them in interest, sniffing the air curiously and stretching their stiff muscles from the long journey.

“Right,” As was so often the case, Wynonna took charge. “Chrissy, could you and Jeremy get everything they’ll need overnight set up and wait for Willa to come back? Once we find out which stables we’re in, could the three of you set them up for the night?”

Waverly noted, with a small amount of satisfaction, that Willa wasn’t going to enjoy taking orders from Wynonna and doing the menial tasks. Wynonna turned to her and Nicole.

“Ready for a walk?”

Since the horses had been cooped up in the lorry all day, they would need a lot of walking around the establishment in order to loosen their muscles. Wynonna clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth to get Eve’s attention, and the mare pushed off into a purposeful march that Wynonna almost needed to jog in order to match. Waverly gave Peacemaker’s rope a little tug, and her horse followed, walking quietly at Waverly’s shoulder. Nicole and Annie were alongside her, the chestnut mare looking around with wide eyes.

Nicole scratched her horse reassuringly on the shoulder.

“She can get a little nervous in places she’s never been before,” she explained. “I forgot to ask earlier; who takes care of the yard back home when you guys are away?”

“My Aunt Gus,” Waverly replied. “I mean, she’s not really my aunt, she’s more like a best friend of the family, but she’s really good with animals and the horses actually tend to behave when she’s around.”

“They don’t with you?”

“They know I don’t like telling them off,” Waverly smiled, “so sometimes they take advantage, like most animals do. I once went to the barn and found Pikachu stuffing his face in the feed room. I don’t even know how he got out of his stable, to be honest.”

“Pikachu?” Nicole’s eyebrow quirked.

“Don’t judge, I took one look at him when he was born and that was the first thing I thought of. It stuck,” Waverly smiled sadly, remembering the night her young horse was born. “He was bottle fed from a young age. After he was born, his mother was fine for a while, but she suddenly started to go downhill and nobody knew why. She lasted a few weeks, but she wasn’t strong. After she passed, we tried looking for a foster mare, but there weren’t any around.”

“I’m so sorry,” Nicole reached out and touched Waverly’s arm briefly.

“The vets helped us bottle feed him, and as soon as he was old enough, he was turned out with our little Shetland pony so he could be socialised properly. We think he’s turned out pretty okay. Hopefully in a couple of years he can join this one at top level,” Waverly gestured to Peacemaker, and the grey horse pricked his ears.

“I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like,” Nicole said quietly. Waverly swallowed the sudden lump in her throat when she looked into Nicole’s brown eyes, seeing nothing but sympathy there.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to dump that all on you, God,” Waverly huffed out a laugh, determined to regain a semblance of professionalism. She and Nicole were still barely more than strangers, after all.

“Never apologise for telling me things, even if they’re hard,” Nicole said. Her tone was light, but somehow Waverly could tell she meant every word. “Especially if they’re hard.”

Waverly nodded gratefully. “Thanks.”

They didn’t notice Wynonna until they nearly crashed into the back of Eve. Wynonna rolled her eyes at them.

“I’ve been waiting for you to catch up. Jesus shit, you guys are slow!”

*****

The only thing Waverly didn’t really like about driving in France was that a lot of the roads they were using were toll roads, and periodically someone – usually Jeremy – would have to take someone’s credit card and use it contactlessly to pay their way through the barrier. Waverly wasn’t sure how much it was costing, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Hopefully one of them would be placed high enough in the competition to get some prize money to go back towards the cost of competing.

While she was no stranger to competing in France, she’d never been to Tartas before, and she was looking forward to competing somewhere new. She felt like every time she competed there was more pressure on her shoulders the better she did, and the last time she competed in France, well… to everyone’s surprise she had won the four star competition at _Les_ _Étoiles de Pau_ , which was the country’s highest ranked Event.

The highest level of four star was something most riders only dreamed of competing at, let alone winning, and Waverly still couldn’t quite believe it had happened to her. As it were, there were only six four star competitions across the globe per year, and four of them were in Europe, which was one of the reasons the Earps had moved from Canada. The season of the “Classics”, as they were known, actually started in October with Pau in France, followed in November by Adelaide, Australia. The next wasn’t until the spring of the year after, with a competition in Lexington, Kentucky – followed closely by the famed Badminton Horse Trials in the UK. Luhmuhlen in Germany took place in June, and the series concluded in late summer at Burghley, once again in the UK. There were points on offer for the top ten at each of these competitions, and the overall series winner would get a huge bonus of prize money, making it one of the most coveted titles in the sport of Eventing.

And after two events, Waverly had fifteen points to her name. When she looked at the current top ten, she was in third place, as some competitors had competed at both Pau and Adelaide. But she was still a relatively unknown competitor at the top level. Pau had been her third time competing at four star level, having done Kentucky and Luhmuhlen earlier that year. She’d gotten through both competitions without being eliminated, but she hadn’t caught the eye by any stretch of the imagination. But something had changed at Pau. Admittedly, she’d been helped by the mistakes of other riders, but she had managed to capitalise on her opportunities and win by the narrow margin of 0.3 penalties, simply because Peacemaker was quick and careful across both jumping phases.

She knew both Willa and Nicole had more experience competing at four star level, and had been doing it for longer than she had, and so had a better chance at being selected for this year’s Olympics, but an ever-growing part of her was hoping against hope that thanks to her win, she might be on the selector’s radars as well. She’d just have to prove that her win at Pau wasn’t a fluke; even if it felt like it was.

*****

Waverly woke early on Thursday morning at the venue in Tartas, eager to begin. She wasn’t usually a morning person, but there was something about getting started today that gave her the extra energy she needed. Technically they wouldn’t be competing until tomorrow, as the two star competition she, Nicole and Willa were entered for started a day after the one star, but today would be her first opportunity to walk the Cross Country course, as well as the more official business of picking up her number from the office and passing the trot-up, where Peacemaker’s soundness and fitness would be examined to ensure he was ready for the three days of competing ahead of him.

Once everyone else was up, Wynonna, Chrissy and Jeremy went down to the stables to give the horses their breakfasts while Waverly, Nicole and Willa headed over to the Cross Country course. The two star course was relatively challenging; just right for the first run of the season. There was nothing there that should give any of the horses a problem, at any rate; not compared to the technicalities of a four star course. They mostly walked in silence, each of them concentrating on what their approach would be, come Cross Country day. Of course, this would be the first of multiple walks Waverly would take. The horses may not be able to see the course until they were jumping it, but the riders could walk around it as many times as they pleased. Waverly knew that she would probably end up walking it twice more before Peacemaker jumped it. Willa however, never walked a course more than twice. She’d probably only walk this one once, given its lack of technical difficulty compared to what she was used to jumping.

It took them a while to walk the course, as it was nearly five kilometres in length, and so by the time they arrived back at the lorry, the horses had been fed and walked, and someone had evidently visited the office, as there were three sets of number bibs laid out for them. Since the Dressage phase had started for the one star competition, they all decided to scope out the various trade stands and food wagons near the main arena. Waverly grabbed whatever food looked least greasy and made her way to the grandstand to take a seat and watch the competition.

Waverly had always had a love-hate relationship with Dressage. She vastly preferred the thrill and speed of the Cross Country phase, but there was no denying that delivering a good Dressage test required skill too. The precision and balance needed to silently communicate to your horse what movements to perform and when to perform them were immense, and your test needed to be practically foot perfect if you wanted a chance at the top spot. In the beginning, Waverly hadn’t been very good at riding Dressage; and Peacemaker had struggled with it too. Being a thoroughbred, he was built for speed, for excitement, and so when he was younger he used to be very tense every time he entered the Dressage arena, which led to Waverly tensing up, which led to a mediocre at best performance and a hefty penalty score to carry into the next two phases. But slowly, with the help of an instructor, she had worked on her connection to Peacemaker, and used breathing exercises to help her relax, which worked on calming her horse, too. Now, more often than not, Peacemaker delivered a precise, if not extravagant, test that usually left her in a high enough position to be in touch with the leader after day one.

She was pulled from her thoughts by someone sitting next to her. Turning her head, Waverly was somewhat disappointed to see Willa. Her older sister regarded her coolly.

“You know, you can’t really learn anything by watching the amateurs compete,” she said breezily, gesturing towards the current competitor, who was actually delivering a decent test thus far. “You have to study the professionals.”

“I am,” Waverly replied. “You just missed one of the top French riders bring his horse to its first international competition. They’re in the lead at the moment, so…”

Willa huffed.

“Besides,” Waverly continued. “Everyone has to start somewhere. I did, you did. Willa, I remember you at your first ever Event. You choked.”

Her sister’s eyes narrowed dangerously, but Waverly ploughed on.

“I mean, you were only fifteen, but you nearly forgot your Dressage test and then you were eliminated on the Cross Country, but look at you now. You won Luhmuhlen two years ago, for God’s sake!”

“Everyone may start somewhere, but you don’t come to an international competition to embarrass yourself,” Willa snarled. “Remember that when you walk into that arena, _Waves_.”

And with that, she stood up and stormed away, leaving Waverly with nothing but frustration and a lost appetite.

*****

The afternoon was spent grooming the horses until their coats shone, and plaiting their manes neatly in preparation for the inspection. There would be two ‘trot-ups’ during the course of the competition; one this evening, and one the morning of the final Showjumping phase. Usually they were nothing to worry about, unless you’d had a tough time on the Cross Country course, which could mean your horse being eliminated if it was even slightly lame.

When the time came, they all walked over to the inspection area as a group. While some riders used the trot-up as an opportunity for a fashion show, Waverly was sure there was a better time for that. Instead, she opted for beige breeches, long riding boots and a neat white polo shirt. _Keep it understated and professional_ , she thought to herself. Nicole had gone for a similar look, except for the black button up shirt with the top few buttons undone, and her hair up in a French braid. All three horses passed with no problems, trotting evenly on the tarmac with confidence, and Waverly couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Even though she’d had no doubts about Peacemaker’s soundness, it was always nice to have it confirmed.

They left the plaits in the horses’ manes ready for the Dressage the next day, and Nicole kindly but firmly insisted on making dinner for them all on the little gas hob in the lorry. She dished up the pasta, and Wynonna dug in even before the plate was on the table. She closed her eyes and moaned appreciatively as soon as the food was in her mouth, and gave Nicole a thumbs up.

“This is good shit, Haught. Never would’ve pegged you for the Home Ec type.”

Nicole shrugged. “I do have a few hidden talents.”

“I’ll bet you do,” Wynonna replied, giving Nicole a ridiculously over-exaggerated wink.

“Behave,” Waverly warned her sister. “Or she’ll never want to talk to us again.”

“Fine by me,” Willa muttered under her breath, and Waverly levelled a glare at her. Thankfully, Nicole appeared not to hear her, and the rest of the night went without incident.

*****

Waverly was the first of the three to do her Dressage test the next day. Willa brought Eve to the warm up arena with Waverly and Peacemaker, as she was competing straight after Waverly, but Nicole’s test wasn’t until much later, so she accompanied them on foot, clad in jeans and the same pullover hoodie she’d worn the day they picked her up from her yard in England. It looked soft.

The weather was cool and dry; a good combination for not sweating through her clothes or being soaked to the bone. Walking around in wet breeches was never something Waverly enjoyed. She focused on warming Peacemaker up the way she always did – never doing too much as to overexcite him, but making sure he was supple and loose enough to not strain any muscles. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Willa practicing multiple flying changes and lateral work, most of which was far beyond what they were required to do for this test. Eve was a striking horse, both with her jet black coat, sheer height, (she had about five inches over Waverly’s own horse) and commanding presence. She definitely looked to be the one to beat.

The steward called her number and she walked over to confirm that she was ready. As she stood waiting to be sent in, Nicole approached her.

“Breathe,” she murmured. Waverly wasn’t sure whether Nicole was talking to her or Peacemaker; the grey horse fidgeting as he waited for Waverly’s signal.

Waverly took a deep breath all the same, and felt some of the tension leave her body. Nicole smiled up at her and rested her hand on Waverly’s knee. Butterflies kicked off in Waverly’s stomach. _I must be anxious to get in the arena_ , Waverly thought to herself.

“Knock ‘em dead,” Nicole said when the steward waved her forwards, and Waverly shot her a smile as she walked away.

“Thanks.”

As it turned out, she must’ve looked calmer than she felt, as even though it wasn’t Peacemaker’s best performance, she still got a low penalty score of 37.6, currently putting her in the lead. Pleased with the result, she watched Willa’s performance from the sidelines, and felt a strange mix of pride and disappointment when Eve captured everyone’s attention from the moment she and Willa entered the arena. She’d known she probably wouldn’t still be in the lead by the end of the day, but it was still hard to watch her score immediately bettered by someone who was often so dismissive of her.

Willa rode out of the arena to long-lasting applause, and the commentator’s announcement of her score. Waverly knew enough French to understand “new leader” and “amazing performance”. Willa had immediately overtaken Waverly with her own score of 34.2 penalties; a big difference in the world of Eventing.

Waverly looked around for Nicole, but she was nowhere to be seen. Figuring Jeremy might know where she was, she walked Peacemaker over to where he and Chrissy were gossiping.

“Hey Jeremy, did you see where Nicole went?” she asked the young man, who turned his attention to her with a sunny smile.

“Yeah, she went back to get changed right around the time Willa went in,” he said. “She doesn’t really like her.”

“She told you that?” Waverly asked.

“Well, no. But she didn’t have to,” Jeremy replied.

Chrissy furrowed her brow. “Do you two have some sort of psychic connection or something? Oh my God, are you guys dating?”

Jeremy’s eyes bugged out for a second before he nearly collapsed in a fit of laughter.

“Me and – and Nicole? _Dating_? Please!” he wiped a tear from his eye, still laughing. “For one, we’re both super gay; for two, she’s my boss-“

“Okay, okay, not dating then,” Chrissy grinned.

Waverly said nothing. Nicole was gay. Huh.

Not that she had a problem with it; far from it. The possibility of Nicole being gay hadn’t really crossed her mind, and the knowledge that she was made her feel… well, she wasn’t entirely sure what it made her feel. So she pushed it to the back of her mind, filing it away under _Things I Should Unpack Later_ , and turned Peacemaker back towards the stables.

“You were great today,” she told him quietly, reaching down slightly to pat him on the neck. He snorted happily under his breath, evidently pleased with himself too.

When she got back to the stable block, she jumped down from her horse’s back and unbuckled the girth, pulling the heavy saddle off his back and setting it carefully on the ground in front of his stable. Opening the door, she led Peacemaker inside and undid the straps on his bridle, letting the metal bit fall out of his mouth as the pulled the bridle off over his ears. He immediately went over to his water bucket for a long drink, and then started munching happily at his hay, knowing his work for today was over.

Waverly left his stall in time to see Nicole leading Annie out. She had changed, just as Jeremy said, into her white breeches and black jacket, the tails of the formal wear hanging down the back of her thighs. Not that Waverly was looking. She forced her eyes over to Annie as Nicole bent down to pick up the white saddlecloth and slung it over the horse’s back. Annie’s coat shone like copper, and the white markings on her legs were almost blinding in their brightness. The many plaits down the arch of her neck were small and neat. In short; she definitely looked the part.

As did Nicole. With her hair still tidily up in her French braid, now with a riding hat squashed on top, the picture was completed. She looked so different to hoodie-and-jeans Nicole it was unbelievable. She went to pick up the saddle and Annie started to walk away, no doubt wondering what mischief she could get up to.

“Hey!” Nicole chastised the mare, but the same thing happened when Nicole tried again to pick up the saddle.

“Here, let me help,” Waverly said, moving swiftly over to hold Annie still. Nicole looked up in surprise, instantly smiling when she realised it was Waverly.

“Hi, Waverly. Great test just now,” Nicole said, as she finally hoisted the saddle up and onto Annie’s back.

“Wasn’t good enough to beat Willa, though,” Waverly was aiming for a joking tone, but it fell flat even to her own ears.

Nicole gave her a sympathetic look as she did up the girth on Annie’s saddle. “Lots can happen over two days. You never know.”

“Are you always this nice?”

“Only to the good ones,” Nicole replied easily, like she didn’t just fill Waverly’s heart with warmth in five words or less.

“Good luck with your test. I’m gonna change and meet the guys at the arena,” Waverly said, picking at a loose thread on her glove. “I’ll do my best to be there before you go in.”

“Much appreciated,” Nicole said, leading Annie out of the stabling area towards a set of steps in order to get on. Once she had swung her leg over Annie’s back, she looked to Waverly and tipped the brim of her hat. “Ma’am,” she put on her best Southern drawl, and clicked her tongue to get the mare moving. Waverly shook her head in disbelief, wondering why she suddenly had the feeling that Nicole Haught – not quite a stranger anymore – was going to be the death of her.

*****

She tried to make it back to the Dressage arena in time to see Nicole, she really did. But just as she was leaving the stables after washing Peacemaker’s sweat marks off, Willa returned, demanding that Waverly help her untack Eve since Wynonna was watching the competition with the other grooms. Waverly rolled her eyes.

“Can’t you just untack her yourself? That’s what I did.”

Willa glared at her. “Well, my horse is quite a lot to handle compared to yours. Besides, I’m tired; pulling out a performance good enough to go into the lead will do that to you, so I need help carrying all this gear back to the lorry.”

Waverly couldn’t believe it. Balling her hands into fists, she tried to keep calm, knowing Willa was attempting to get a rise out of her. She turned on her heel to pick up her own tack and leave, but Willa was apparently not finished.

“It’d be a shame if Wynonna were to find out how selfish you were being. Not helping your own sister and everything.” Her tone was light, but Waverly knew in her heart that Willa would not hesitate to cause friction by painting her as the bad guy, and Waverly had spent too long getting close to Wynonna again to let Willa tear them apart. Not like she had the last time.

“Fine,” Waverly huffed, stalking towards Willa as her sister took off her hat and untied her hair from its intricate bun. Waverly sighed, resigning herself to the fact that she’d probably end up doing all the work while Willa smoothed over her own appearance. She unbuckled Eve’s girth and reached up to pull the saddle off her back. Since Eve was taller than her own horse, she had to reach a fair bit higher than usual, and she nearly lost her grip on the saddle as it came sliding off. Righting herself just in time, she leaned the saddle carefully against the side of the stable.

“Be careful with that,” Willa warned her, taking off her gloves and putting them in her upturned hat. “It probably cost more than your scruffy mongrel horse back home is worth.”

Waverly closed her eyes, trying to stem the rush of anger that came with her sister’s jab at Pikachu. “Just because we don’t know all of his bloodlines, does not make him a mongrel.” She muttered.

Willa’s eyes glinted dangerously. “Is that so? Here I was, thinking that was the definition. Do you really think he’ll make it to the big leagues?

“Yes. I do, actually,” Waverly’s tone was clipped. “He’s got the talent, he’s got the heart, and he’s got the rider who’s a future Olympian, so I’d say he stands a pretty damn good chance.”

Willa snorted. “’Future Olympian’? I know Gus always tells you to dream big, Waverly, but don’t you think some things are just a bit unfeasible? I mean, you’re practically still a child, and if I haven’t been selected yet at twenty-eight, then what hope do you have really?”

“Nicole went when she was only twenty,” Waverly countered. “I was twenty-one last September. I’ve been to the World Championships with the young rider team, and in case you’ve forgotten, I won the four star at Pau! I’m not exactly a slouch!”

“It was a _fluke_ , Waverly!” Willa shouted, “You won through sheer luck and the fact that Peacemaker is too good a horse for you!”

Blinking away tears, Waverly fired back. “And I suppose you think you’re better? Face it Willa, you can’t stand the fact I’m just as good of a rider as you are. I bet it’s killing you that Peacemaker is my ride and not yours!”

“The _only_ reason Wynonna bought him for you is because she felt sorry for you! She _pitied_ you, Waverly; moping around when your mongrel’s mother died like that horse was actually any good.” Willa snarled at her, and Waverly couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.

Determined not to let Willa see her cry, Waverly spun on her heel and marched out of the stables, intent on being anywhere Willa wasn’t. She found her steps leading her back to the lorry, where she quickly shucked off her posh competition clothes and threw on a pair of athletic shorts and a short-sleeved shirt instead. She pulled her sneakers on and left, heading for the Cross Country course. The one star competitors would be starting the Cross Country phase of the competition soon, but she still had enough time to jog around the course she’d be riding tomorrow. She felt bad for not being there for Nicole’s test, but she knew that given the mood she was in, she’d probably be no help whatsoever.

Waverly set off from alongside the start box towards the first obstacle, remembering the plans she drew up during her first walk the previous day. She had planned to walk it at least once more, and maybe jogging the five kilometres wasn’t the best idea considering the amount of exercise she’d be doing over the next two days, but Waverly needed to feel the burn in her lungs, the breeze on her face, the pounding of the grass beneath her feet. She needed to distract herself from Willa’s harsh words and her own self-doubt. Maybe Willa was right after all. Maybe Waverly wasn’t good enough, and it was only because of Peacemaker that she’d made it this far. Maybe her win at Pau had been a fluke, and something she would never replicate.

_No_ , she forced herself to think, _she’s wrong. You and Peacemaker are a team; you won Pau because you’re both good at what you do; you stayed strong when more experienced riders made mistakes; there’s a reason you went to the young rider worlds_.

It became a mantra in her head as her feet hit the ground. Waverly knew that when it came to tomorrow, if she doubted herself for even a second then her horse would pick up on it and hesitate, and then they could be in trouble. She knew she’d have to ride with conviction around the course, particularly given that some of the fences were quite imposing. ‘Rider frighteners’ they called them; an obstacle that wasn’t technically challenging, but was so large and intimidating that riders lost confidence and thus had problems when it came to jumping them.

Having competed at a higher level than this course, Waverly had seen and dealt with numerous rider frighteners, so she wasn’t worried about any of the jumps she’d face tomorrow. She still didn’t want to take it for granted though. Just because Willa let herself become complacent, doesn’t mean she could.

By the time she had jogged around to the finish, she was exhausted. She slowed to a stop, and bent over, hands on her thighs as she breathed deeply, getting as much oxygen into her system as she could. Straightening up, she could see the first competitors warming their horses up in the late morning sun. Waverly wiped the sweat off her brow, feeling a lot calmer for her run. She actually felt like she could deal with human interaction again.

She walked to the stables, wanting to check on Peacemaker as well as see if any of her friends were still there. But it seemed they were elsewhere, as the only ones there she recognised were the horses. She noted that Annie was back in her stable, her back and sides still a bit damp from where she had been sponged clean. She made her way over to the mare and scratched her forehead over the stable door. Annie sighed contentedly and leaned into the touch. Waverly smiled; this competitive firecracker of a horse was actually a huge softie. She wondered if her owner was the same. Certainly so far in the trip, all signs had pointed to yes.

She stopped to fuss Eve, too, as while she couldn’t stand Willa most of the time, the horse didn’t deserve to be ignored even if her rider could be a total bitch. Lastly, she let herself into Peacemaker’s stall and wrapped her arms around his neck, letting his rhythmic breathing settle what was left of her anger.

“Thank you,” she told the horse when she pulled back from the hug. Peacemaker blinked at her, probably confused by the sudden attack of affection, but happy to be the centre of Waverly’s attention again.

As she left the stall, ready to finally pick up her gear and take it back to the lorry, she froze in horror. Her tack was gone.

_Shit_ , she thought. She was going to be crucified for this. The tack – particularly the saddle – wasn’t cheap, and she had gone and left it unattended in the middle of an unfamiliar venue.

Bolting back to the lorry intent on first apologising and then rallying everyone to help her track it down, she was surprised to see Peacemaker’s tack hanging up in its rightful place. Confused, she turned to find everyone gathered around the table eating lunch.

“We saved you some food, Waves,” Chrissy began, patting the seat next to her, a sandwich and some salad on the table. Jeremy gave her a smile and a wave from opposite the empty space.

“Thanks. Who… who, um, brought my stuff back here?”

“Haught did,” Wynonna said.

“After _you_ just left it up there where anyone could’ve taken it,” Willa interjected. “Seems like you had more important things to do than look after your responsibilities or support our guest, like I did. You just stormed out.”

Waverly gritted her teeth. “You know the reason I left like I did.”

“Do I?” Willa said smugly, “You might have to remind me.”

Waverly was about to, but something told her Willa wanted her to implode. So, instead of giving her the satisfaction, Waverly turned to Nicole and ignored her eldest sister entirely.

“Thank you for bringing my tack back here, I’m really sorry you had to right my mistake.”

Nicole smiled gently at her, clearly sensing the tension in the room. “It’s no problem, I know I’ve left my saddle behind by mistake before.”

“I’ve done it a million times,” Wynonna supplied, “and I’m only the lowly, unpaid help.”

Waverly breathed a sigh of relief, finding a sort of satisfaction at the frustrated set of Willa’s jaw.

*****

After the last competitor of the day had performed their Dressage test, the group of them went to check out the leaderboard going into day two. Willa was still in first place, to Waverly’s chagrin. She herself had dropped to third place, and Nicole must’ve had a good test, as she was right behind her in fourth on a score of 38.1 penalties – only 0.5 behind Waverly.

Waverly could tell that the locals were a bit surprised by the influx of Canadians near the top of the scoreboard, as most of the competitors were French, or otherwise European. The three of them were, in fact, the only Canadian competitors at this particular Event, and the fact that they were occupying three of the top four spots so far was probably a bit disconcerting.

After dinner, Chrissy unplaited Peacemaker’s mane in preparation for the Cross Country. For one, they didn’t want to leave the plaits in for too long in case they became uncomfortable, and they would have to be redone for the final day of competition anyway, so it made sense to let him go Cross Country without them. Besides, if they had an awkward moment on course, Waverly had something to hang onto instead of using the reins to snatch at his mouth.

Waverly was planning to get up early and walk the Cross Country course one last time, so she set her alarm for the same time as Chrissy’s (who would spend the morning getting Peacemaker ready) and she knew she must’ve had one hell of a tiring day, because sleep found her almost the instant after her head hit the pillow.

*****

Out of the fifty-seven competitors in the class, Waverly was ninth in the running order. On the plus side, it meant the ground would still be very good, but it also meant she had a long wait ahead of her after her round to find out where it would leave her going into the final day.

As she circled Peacemaker around the three-sided start box after being told she had one minute until her time, she focused on visualising each obstacle and how she was going to approach it. Peacemaker jogged around the circles, knowing that the jumping saddle, elasticated breastplate, protective tendon boots and the grease down the front of his legs meant Cross Country, which meant jumping and galloping, which meant _fun_. It was his favourite part of Eventing, and it was Waverly’s too. Right from her very first Event, she had loved the thrill of Cross Country, and that love had only grown over the years.

“Ten seconds!” The steward called, and Waverly made her final circle before entering the start box on “three”.

“Two, one, go!” The steward called, and Waverly started her stopwatch with one hand as Peacemaker leapt out of the box and immediately settled into a gallop as they approached the first fence; an easy log that was about 1.10m in height. As it was a two star competition, the maximum height of the fences on Cross Country were 1.15m, except for brush fences which were allowed to be a little bit bigger as horses could go through the top of them.

Peacemaker gracefully leapt over the log without breaking his stride and swiftly moved on towards the second fence. That too, he took easily, and Waverly felt her confidence grow with each obstacle completed. There was a brief moment in the second half of the course that made Waverly thankful for the grease on Peacemaker’s legs as he slithered over a drop fence cautiously, not wanting to take this fence too fast.

Waverly breathed a sigh of relief on the other side, making a note to ride a bit stronger the next time her horse backed off of a fence like that. Peacemaker jumped down the step into the water with relish, and Waverly blinked away the droplets in her eyes from the splash. After this obstacle, Waverly knew they were close to home. Sure enough, after the final big test of the water jump, the course settled down into some easier obstacles to reflect the tiredness of the horses after galloping and jumping for several minutes.

Waverly checked her final minute marker and saw that she was well up on the optimum time, so she allowed Peacemaker to slow his pace slightly as they tackled the last few obstacles. After all, there was no reason to push him into a potential injury when she didn’t need to. They jumped the last fence to the cheers and applause of the waiting crowd, and Waverly briefly saw a flash of red hair on the sidelines. She stopped her watch as they galloped through the finish flags, giving Peacemaker a hard pat down the neck.

“Awesome job, buddy!” She told him happily, easing him slowly down to a walk before dismounting and loosening his girth. His sides were heaving with exertion and flecked with sweat, but he was snorting happily and his walk was as purposeful as ever, so Waverly knew that with the proper aftercare he’d barely be feeling the effects of his run come tomorrow.

Chrissy ran over with a sponge and a bucket of water as Nicole appeared on Waverly’s other side to unfasten the breastplate attachments and remove Peacemaker’s saddle so Chrissy could sponge cold water onto the grey’s back to help him cool down. They walked back to the stable block, not waiting for Willa, who would be the next competitor to finish, as their focus was solely on Peacemaker. Once they were back at the stables, Nicole put the saddle down and fetched a fresh bucket of water, and the horse drank deeply when it was offered to him. His breathing had pretty much gone back to normal during the walk back, and Chrissy checked his heart rate with the stethoscope she had slung around her neck and reported that it was coming down nicely.

They scraped the excess water off his body, and Chrissy bandaged some covered ice packs to his legs after the boots had been removed, to help bring down any potential swelling after the impact of the course. The ground had been soft enough that the impact shouldn’t be bad, but Waverly knew it was better safe than sorry.

After they iced his legs, Waverly led him back into his stable and removed the rest of his tack, being sure to wash the remainder of the grease off the front of his legs.

“Looks like he needed it at one point,” Chrissy noted, and Waverly stood up from where she had been crouching and nodded, unclipping her inflatable air vest and crash helmet.

“Yeah, the drop at fence seventeen. He backed off it a bit and I didn’t get after him enough so he kind of slithered over it,” she reported back. “He was good to jump it, though; I didn’t give him the support he needed.”

“Not that it mattered,” Chrissy grinned, “given you were clear and inside the time. Means you won’t be any lower than third overnight.”

“And you might even climb up a place or two,” Nicole interjected, crossing her arms on top of the stable door and resting her chin on them.

“Not likely,” A voice came from behind them, and they all turned their attention to Willa, who was walking in front of her horse as Wynonna and Jeremy worked at untacking and washing her off as they went. “Eve stormed around in the fastest time so far, so I know I’ll be the overnight leader.”

“If you went that fast, you might wanna consider helping to wash her off,” Nicole suggested, which earned her a glare from Willa and a guffaw from Wynonna.

“Haught-stuff ain’t wrong, sis,” Wynonna said. “Come and clean your own damn horse for once!”

Willa clearly wasn’t happy about it, but she wanted to stay in Wynonna’s favour, so she complied and went about sponging water onto Eve’s damp neck.

“Honestly, what would we do without you?” Chrissy marvelled at Nicole. “I’ve never seen her do that before.”

Nicole raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Never?”

Waverly shrugged. “She has ‘better things to do’,” she said, making the air quotations to really hammer the point home.

Nicole smirked at her, and Waverly blamed the nine minutes she had just spent galloping across the French countryside for the heat in her cheeks.

*****

“She’s been out there for a while,” Waverly said, trying and failing to sound casual. Chrissy checked her wristwatch and shook her head.

“Nope, you were still out of sight at this point, nothing to worry about.”

Waverly knew she was being stupid, but she wasn’t used to being on the sidelines for anyone except Willa and the occasional teammate who, in reality, she didn’t really know. She didn’t know why she was so worried. Nicole was a world class rider on a world class horse; she knew courses such as this like the back of her hand. And sure enough, a few seconds later a ginger horse came into view, easily distinguishable as Annie due to the white blaze on her face. She was in a good rhythm as she came towards the last few fences, ears still pricked in enjoyment despite the effort that had gone into the rest of the course.

Waverly cheered with everyone else as Nicole and Annie cleared the bench at the final obstacle and cruised through the finish flags. She saw Annie pull up where Jeremy was waiting with a bucket of water, and before she knew it, her legs were carrying her over to them to help.

“I got it,” she said to Nicole, who was simultaneously trying to lead Annie and remove her saddle.

“Thanks, Waverly, you’re a life saver,” Nicole sighed in relief as Waverly took the saddle in her arms as they led Annie back to the stables.

“Hey, you did the same for me,” Waverly reminded her, and Nicole flashed her a dimpled grin. The saddle slipped in Waverly’s arms and she had to right herself quickly to avoid dropping it altogether.

*****

The rider in second place after Dressage had picked up twenty penalties for a refusal on the course, which moved Waverly up to second and Nicole – who had jumped round with no penalties to add to her score – up into third, and Waverly definitely noticed the air of wonder that followed them around the venue. She even heard one person suggest they were harbouring a witch on the Canadian lorry. That one had made Waverly chuckle, as the woman saying it probably assumed she couldn’t understand her. French wasn’t her most proficient language, but she spoke and understood enough to get by, having competed in the country a few times now.

Even so, it was a pretty incredible feat that they were holding the top three spots after two days of competition. Willa and Waverly had been first and second a couple of times in the past, with Waverly beating out her sister more and more as time went on, but it hadn’t happened in a while, and certainly not with another member of their party taking the third spot.

Still, as Waverly woke on the third and final day of competition, she knew she still had a lot to do if she wanted to keep her position. Chrissy had redone Peacemaker’s plaits the previous evening, as his final trot up was early in the morning. Waverly walked him around for at least fifteen minutes before he was due to be examined, making sure that any stiff muscles were warmed and loosened in plenty of time. Unsurprisingly, he passed the trot up with flying colours, as did Eve and Annie. In fact, Waverly was sure that all the remaining horses in the competition passed, which was always a wonderful thing to see.

The Showjumping phase, to build tension, was always run in reverse order of placement, which meant she would be the last but one competitor in the arena. This allowed her to watch most of the rounds before her, and see how the course was jumping. For two star level, there was a maximum height of four feet, or 1.20m, and most of the horses seemed to be jumping it well. Out of fifty-seven starters, forty-six had made it to the final phase, the others having either been eliminated, retired or withdrawn from the competition, mostly in yesterday’s Cross Country phase.

By the time Waverly had to leave to warm Peacemaker up for his round, about a third of the competitors had jumped a clear round, which was a good sign. Peacemaker was usually a careful jumper if he wasn’t distracted by something in the crowd, so as long as Waverly could hold his attention, they stood a good chance of jumping clear.

When it came down to it, it was Waverly herself who had to fight off distraction, as Nicole went into the arena just as Waverly was taking her final few practice jumps. As much as she didn’t want to, Waverly strained her ears for the sounds of a wooden pole hitting the floor, but to her relief, no such thing happened, and Nicole came out of the arena beaming at the clear round.

“Good luck!” She called to Waverly as she rode past her and into the arena, and Waverly took a deep breath as the bell rung out, signalling her that she was permitted to begin her round. She pushed Peacemaker into a controlled canter, making sure his weight wasn’t too far forward to give him the best chance of jumping the fences cleanly. She relaxed her fingers around the reins every time he jumped, letting his neck stretch as he cleared each obstacle with ease.

As they lined up on the final line of fences, Waverly focused even harder on counting the strides, and not letting her horse get too fast on the approach, as he was a bit apt to do. She heard his toe tap the top pole of the second to last fence, but thankfully it didn’t fall, and she made sure to set him up better for the final fence. He cleared the last jump by some height, making up for his carelessness at the previous fence, and Waverly couldn’t help but punch the air as she realised she was guaranteed second place at worst.

She reflexively wished Willa luck on her way in, and jumped off Peacemaker’s back as Chrissy enveloped her in a hug. Nicole gave her a thumbs up over her friend’s shoulder, and Waverly smiled widely, trying to hide it in Chrissy’s collar.

And if her spirits were only dampened slightly when Willa jumped clear and secured the win, then so be it.

*****

Spending time around Nicole became a habit after they got back from France. Now that Waverly had a new friend that was not only as driven and ambitious as she was, but was also a genuinely nice person who happened to live only a short distance away, she found herself spending more and more time at Nicole’s yard.

Spending time with Nicole also had the benefit of infuriating Willa, which Waverly revelled in. It was clear Willa and Nicole didn’t think much of each other; which wasn’t helped by Nicole reigning in Willa’s gloating after her win in Tartas when it became apparent that she was only doing it to goad Waverly. Wynonna had agreed with Nicole and told her sister to knock it off, that they all did really well at the competition, and Waverly had never been so happy that Wynonna had defended her against Willa.

The trouble was, Wynonna and Willa being so close in age had always meant Waverly had been left out, and Willa used this to her advantage. She was only mean to her when Wynonna wasn’t around to see it, and though Waverly knew that Wynonna loved her – buying Peacemaker for her had only been one of many sweet gestures – she also knew that Wynonna was keen to keep their family together and she didn’t want to ruin that by ratting Willa out. And that was even assuming she’d be believed…

Still, Waverly was relatively happy, especially as she was back home and riding Pikachu, whom she had missed when she was away. Peacemaker was having his rest period of nearly a week after the competition, which meant Waverly could focus her attention solely on her younger horse and his introduction to international competition. He’d built up to his first one star last year, and had been placed in the top ten, to Waverly’s joy. This year he would hopefully make it to two star level, and Waverly was already eyeing up a potential competition in July.

She checked her phone one evening a couple of weeks after getting back from France to see a text from Nicole. They had exchanged numbers as soon as they were back in England, and had been messaging back and forth quite often since then.

_Got offered a last-minute ride for Kentucky at the end of the month, would love it if you came with me and Jeremy. You in? x_

Waverly bit her lip. The four star at Lexington, Kentucky was only a week before Badminton Horse Trials, which both she and Nicole would be competing at, but she supposed with flying there and back there would be enough time. Quite a lot of the top riders would compete one horse in America then fly over to the UK to ride another. She quickly fired off a text to Chrissy asking if she could give Peacemaker some gentle exercise while she was away. She got the affirmative response she had been hoping for, and typed out a reply to Nicole’s text.

_Absolutely! Just tell me what flight to book x_


	2. Lexington

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I wanna thank all of you who read, gave kudos, bookmarked and commented on chapter one! It means more to me than you could ever imagine, and it's only gonna get gayer from here on in!
> 
> Quick rundown of added penalties to the Dressage scores:  
> On the Cross Country it's 20 penalties for a refusal, 3 refusals and you're out; 0.4 penalties for every second over the optimum time.  
> Showjumping it's 4 penalties for a refusal or knocked down fence, 1 penalty for every second over the time allowed.
> 
> I used the 2016 course at Lexington, and here's a couple of rounds if you want that visualisation:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H7tebD75pM World number 1 Michael Jung (full coverage, multiple cameras)
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohCTL4WPE8c Elisa Wallace (helmet camera) if you want a rider's POV
> 
> Also can we just suspend disbelief and pretend this is an AU where the London Olympics are like, now? With the courses I'm going to use over the course of this fic I need to fudge the times a bit!
> 
> Enjoy! <3

They picked a flight that would land in Lexington the morning of the first trot up, giving Nicole two days to get used to her horse. Quite a lot of Events at the top level had so many entries that the Dressage phase was split into two days, as was the case at Lexington. It just so happened that Nicole would be riding on the second day of Dressage, which gave her a whole extra day to figure out the horse’s quirks and preferences.

“So, whose horse are you riding?” Was Waverly’s first question as Chrissy drove them to the airport. She twisted around in her seat to look at Nicole, who was riding with Jeremy in the back seat of the car.

Nicole pulled a face. “Champ Hardy’s horse. Buenos Aires is the name of it.”

“Champ Hardy…” Waverly trailed off, trying to place the name. “Oh, he’s that American rider who always claims he’s gonna win.”

“Most of the time, he’s wrong,” Nicole gave her a wry smile, “but the horse seems good, and it’s a chance to ride at another four star, so who am I to say no if his people contacted me first?”

“I suppose, but doesn’t it bother you that you’ve never even sat on this horse before and now you’re gonna compete at one of the top events in the world?” Waverly asked.

“When you put it like that, it does seem a bit stupid,” Nicole laughed, “If it’s not going to work, I’ll withdraw. But from what I’ve seen, Champ’s not exactly the most stylish rider, so maybe the horse is relatively straightforward. If it’s competing at four star, it should know its job well enough to adapt to a different rider.”

Waverly supposed that was a good point. Still, she worried about the risks. The only reason she was so comfortable riding Peacemaker and Pikachu at tough competitions was because she had a real bond with them, formed and strengthened over several years, and she knew Nicole had the same bond with Annie. Waverly didn’t think she could just get on an unfamiliar horse and face the biggest test of a four star competition, but Nicole did have more experience at this level than she did, so Waverly let it go.

*****

As the flight took off, Jeremy seized Nicole’s hand, squeezing hard enough to make her grimace.

“Jeremy doesn’t like flying that much,” she explained through gritted teeth, and Waverly looked over Nicole to see the man in question with his eyes shut tight, looking like he was about to rip the armrest right off his seat.

“Yeah, no shit,” Waverly commented, but she patted Nicole’s free hand sympathetically.

“Will you please switch seats with me on the way back?” Nicole pleaded as Jeremy cut off the circulation to the rest of her body.

“No chance,” Waverly said cheerfully.

Nicole sighed and peeled Jeremy’s hand off of her own.

*****

They were collected at the airport in Lexington in a pickup truck driven by a man who introduced himself as Pete. He explained that he worked for Champ’s family, and they made the half hour drive to Kentucky Horse Park in relative quiet. Well, Pete was annoyingly chatty, but Waverly was tired and jetlagged, and didn’t really feel like humouring his shallow questions with more than one-syllable answers.

Once they drove through the gates and down to the lorry park, Waverly began to feel the excitement kick in. She was really here again, albeit not as a rider this time. Lexington had been her first four star event, and it had been a tough one. Ideally, she’d wanted to wait and do Luhmuhlen first, but Willa had been competing at Lexington and had insisted Waverly compete too. As a result, Waverly had ended up in the middle of the leaderboard, with an average Dressage test, time faults in the Cross Country phase as she gave Peacemaker more time to assess the obstacles and had taken some of the slower alternative options, and one fence down for four faults in the Showjumping. A solid start to her four star career, but nothing remarkable.

She hoped Nicole would do better.

Pete parked the truck next to a posh-looking horsebox, and a man Waverly recognised as Champ Hardy stepped out, one arm in a sling.

“’Sup?” He greeted, holding out his good hand to Nicole for a fist bump. Perplexed, Nicole complied awkwardly, and Waverly hid a laugh in her sleeve. Unfortunately for her, it drew Champ’s attention.

“And who might you be?” He winked at her.

_Oh no_ , Waverly thought. She didn’t want to have to deal with _that_ for several days.

“Waverly Earp,” she replied, not wanting to be rude. “Nicole invited me to help.”

“Do you ride?” He asked, and Waverly ignored the obvious innuendo.

“Yes, actually, we’re both competing at Badminton next week,” she gestured to Nicole, hoping to bring the attention off of herself and back to the task at hand. Nicole shot her a grateful look.

“What can you tell me about the horse?” She questioned him. “Any weaknesses?”

“Nah,” Champ said, “he’s a real superstar, just you wait.”

“I’d like to see him, if that’s alright.” Nicole was all business, and Waverly knew her well enough to know she didn’t think much of this Champ Hardy already.

Champ led them to the stable block and stopped next to a dark bay horse with a large white splodge between his eyes, and a smaller diamond-shaped marking at the bottom of his nose. He looked friendly enough, his eyes sparkling with intelligence, and it set Waverly’s concerns to rest somewhat. The horse was already plaited, ready for the trot up later that afternoon, his dark coat shining.

“He’s pure thoroughbred,” Champ said proudly as Pete led the horse out of the stall. He was taller than Peacemaker, but about an inch smaller than Nicole’s own Annie. “Really good bloodlines for galloping and jumping.”

“He looks a little on the skinny side,” Nicole commented, looking the horse over with a critical eye, and Waverly was inclined to agree. “How much muscle strengthening work has he done over the past few months?”

Champ scoffed. “Tonnes. He just doesn’t show it like the fancy Warmblood crosses do. Besides, he’s only nine, that sort of muscle doesn’t come until later.”

Waverly was pretty sure he had just made that up, but she kept her mouth shut.

“Can I give him a practice ride before the trot up? Just a little get-to-know-you session,” Nicole asked, and Champ shrugged.

“Sure thing,” he said.

*****

An hour later, and Nicole had put Buenos Aires through his paces, walking, trotting, cantering and finally galloping him in one of the many warm up arenas. There were a few jumps already set up in the middle of the arena and Nicole built him up from a small cross-rail until she was jumping over four foot on him. Waverly had to admit, for all he was a bit under-muscled for her tastes, he was a damn good horse, especially considering Champ said he was only a nine year old.

Nicole walked the horse to cool him off, loosening the reins as Buenos Aries stretched his neck almost to the ground.

“I’m happy to continue and do the competition,” she said, giving the horse a firm pat.

“Duh,” Champ said, “that’s what you’re meant to be doing anyway.”

Nicole narrowed her eyes at him, but said nothing.

They walked from the warm up arena back to the stable block, and Nicole jumped off the horse’s back and went to unbuckle the girth, but Pete beat her to it.

“He’ll take care of the horse,” Champ explained.

“At least let me help wash him,” Nicole tried, but Pete shook his head.

“I got it,” he told her, “It’s what I’m paid to do.”

Nicole pursed her lips, and Waverly could tell she was torn between wanting to help, and not wanting to step on the groom’s toes. Finally she relented, shrugging her shoulders. She checked her wristwatch, which Waverly had reminded her to change to local time once they had landed after their flight.

“We’ve still got a few hours until the trot up starts, and I’m not until near the end of the running order, so I’d say we have time to walk the Cross Country course,” she suggested.

“Cool,” Jeremy said, “Champ, do you want to come with us? Y’know, share your expertise?”

Nicole glared at the back of Jeremy’s head, but Champ was nodding, his eyes on Waverly. “Yeah, sure, this course is tough but I can totally talk you through it.”

Nicole bristled at his tone, but she forced a smile and nodded. “Lead the way.”

Champ set off towards the Cross Country course, and Nicole lightly smacked Jeremy on the shoulder. “You have awful taste in men.”

*****

It turned out to be quite possibly the most frustrating course walk of Waverly’s life, and she’d spent a lot of them with Willa, so that was saying something. Champ would not shut up about how he jumped clear around the course the previous year on his old horse. Waverly scoffed. Minus the time faults, she’d managed the exact same feat. She knew it wasn’t Nicole’s first time at Lexington either, having competed there a couple of times in the past.

The fifth fence was the first real ‘rider frightener’ – a massive brush fence with an enormous ditch in front of it, known as Keeper’s Brush. Nicole walked up to the edge and hopped down into the ditch.

“Not as wide as the one at Burghley,” she noted, “but still a damn big effort for the horse. He’ll be fine with this, right?” She directed the question at Champ.

“Yeah, totally fine. He doesn’t really look at ditches,” he reassured idly. “So, Waverly, what do you think of the course so far? It gets pretty terrifying later.”

“Well, I found it quite manageable when I was here last year,” Waverly replied, and Champ looked surprised.

“I had no idea you’d competed here! Where’d you place?”

“Not very high,” Waverly said. “It was my first go at a four star, so I took my time and ended up with a lot of time penalties to add.”

“Your first time, eh?” Champ said, with a somewhat lecherous undertone. “I remember my first time. I didn’t take it slow at all.”

Waverly rolled her eyes. “Good for you,” she muttered.

Nicole chose this moment to climb back out of the ditch, seemingly satisfied with her inspection of the obstacle. She dusted her hands off on her breeches. “Ready to move on?”

“Please,” Waverly said, hurrying to walk between her and Jeremy as they continued.

There were a couple of small water jump combinations soon after Keeper’s Brush, and after checking that Buenos Aires had no hesitation when it came to water, they moved on to the main water complex known as ‘The Head of the Lake’ at fence number eleven.

There was a big drop into the water itself over a log with some brush on top of it, then a curving line to a narrow corner fence in the middle of the lake. The twelfth fence was a step out of the water, followed immediately by another brush fence which the horses would have to ‘bounce’, meaning there wasn’t room to take a full stride inbetween the elements and the horses would take off again as soon as they landed from the first part. All in all, it was a very tough and technical group of fences.

“This first jump into the water has a gap at the bottom which he’ll see the water through,” Nicole noted of the drop fence. “That won’t bother him, right?”

Champ, who was trying to talk to Waverly again, waved her off dismissively. “No, he’ll be fine. He’s a brave horse. Almost as brave as I am.” He directed the last part to Waverly.

Nicole nodded. “Okay then.”

As they moved on towards the next fence, Waverly sighed. She was trying to enjoy herself, but Champ yapping in her ear really wasn’t helping, and she didn’t want to break Nicole’s concentration by talking to her instead. Jeremy was trying to get Champ’s attention, but was being steadfastly ignored as Champ focused on Waverly. It was one great big useless cycle.

At fence twenty-four (a three part combination of a hanging log to a ditch to a relatively innocuous but angled jump on the way out), Nicole called Waverly over.

“What do you think?” She asked.

“I think he’s an egotistical idiot who probably injured his arm jerking off too hard over his mediocre achievements,” Waverly said darkly.

Nicole’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as she pointed towards the jump. “I – I meant what do you think about this combination?”

“Oh.”

“But it’s good to know where you stand.” Nicole continued, “For what it’s worth, I agree with your assessment.”

Waverly giggled, then she turned serious as she studied the line of fences. “Well, obviously you’re gonna want to set him up properly from a ways out, the ground falls away on the landing of the first part so you don’t want to be going too fast. As long as he stays straight over the ditch, the angle you’re jumping the fence on the way back up the slope shouldn’t be a problem.”

Nicole nodded. “Good plan. Hopefully he’ll lock on to the jump and know what to do.”

“I forgot how long this course is,” Waverly said, rubbing her temples. There were still seven more jumping efforts spread over five more numbered obstacles, so they were nearing the end of the course, but the track was nearly six and a half kilometres in length, and she’d spent most of it being irritated by Champ. It was enough for even the most patient soul to reach the end of their tether.

Nicole looked at her sympathetically. “It’s okay if you don’t want to walk it again. I know I’m not the best company.”

“God, Nicole, how could you even think it’s you that I have a problem with?” Waverly asked incredulously. “I’ll walk this course with you a dozen times if it means I don’t have to spend any more time around _him_.” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder.

Some colour came to Nicole’s cheeks, and she ducked her head. “Okay.”

“Hey,” Waverly said, briefly squeezing Nicole’s wrist. “I’m really glad you invited me.”

Nicole beamed at her. From behind them, Champ cleared his throat loudly. He glared at Nicole. “Ready to move along?”

*****

_How are my best boys back home?_

Waverly typed out the message to Chrissy as Nicole waited for her turn to trot up her horse for the vets. The reply came quickly.

_Missing you. They’re actually behaving themselves pretty well though. How are things over there?_

Nicole was called forwards and Waverly slid her phone into her pocket. Buenos Aires was a little bit nervous and jittery, but he trotted well enough, and passed. Waverly took her phone back out of her pocket and saw she had another message from Chrissy.

_What’s Champ like?_

Waverly rolled her eyes.

_Sleazy, and basically an idiot. He won’t leave me alone!_

She glanced up and, sure enough, Champ’s eyes were already on her. He winked, and she averted her eyes. Chrissy sent her another message.

_I bet Nicole’s not too happy about that…_

Waverly frowned. What was that supposed to mean?

_Well, yeah, I’m meant to be helping her but he keeps trying to get my attention._

Chrissy didn’t respond for a long moment, and when she did, it confused Waverly even more.

_Never mind. You’re hopeless, Waves ;)_

*****

By the time came for Nicole’s Dressage test, she and Buenos Aires had managed to build a decent partnership. Nicole had made sure to spend a lot of time with the horse; grooming and fussing him despite the protests of Pete, and as a result the gelding greeted her with a low whinny when she arrived with his tack for the day’s competition. Waverly and Jeremy had meanwhile picked Pete’s brain about Buenos Aires’ quirks and needs, making sure they would be ready to properly take care of the horse after the Cross Country phase tomorrow.

Waverly and Jeremy made their way to the grandstand to find some seats just as the competitor before Nicole finished his test. Out of seventy-two riders, Nicole was number sixty-three, and so the leaderboard was already quite packed. The current leader had pulled out a great test to sit on a score of 34.8 penalties; a score that would be very hard to beat even for the most experienced partnership.

Nicole rode into the large arena, Buenos Aries springing off the soft all-weather surface of the ground. Waverly always preferred to ride Dressage on an artificial surface as opposed to grass; the horses were surer of their footing and as a result could end up performing better. Buenos Aires definitely seemed at home in the arena – the tension he had held in the trot up was all but gone, as Nicole waited for her start bell by cantering him around the perimeter of the white boards marking the rectangular Dressage arena within the vast space of the stadium.

The bell sounded, and Nicole entered the arena, cantering up the centreline and halting in the middle of the rectangle to salute the judges. She held the stillness for a moment, then squeezed the horse’s sides and moved off smoothly into a trot. As she completed the technical movements with relative ease, Waverly couldn’t help but be struck by how elegant of a rider Nicole was. For all it was very strange watching her ride a horse other than Annie, she looked at home on the dark bay gelding. Buenos Aires’ black tail flicked from side to side as Nicole instructed him to perform a flying change – switching the leg he was leading on in canter mid-air – executing the move well.

Waverly could see a small amount of tension return to Buenos Aires in the walk section of the test, as if he had suddenly realised how many people were watching his every move, and he didn’t stretch his frame as much as he could. The rest of the performance, however, was really very good, and by the time of Nicole’s final salute, Waverly could tell she was happy with how it had gone. She cheered with Jeremy as Nicole finished her final salute and dropped the reins, reaching down to wrap her arms around Buenos Aires’ neck in joy. Given that this was the first Dressage test the pair had performed together, it really couldn’t have gone much better. As much as Waverly disliked Champ, she had to admit he’d done a good job with this young horse’s training.

As they made their way to the exit of the arena to meet Nicole, Waverly heard the commentator’s voice over the loudspeakers.

“A good score of 43.2 penalties for Canadian rider Nicole Haught riding Buenos Aires,” he said, and Waverly could see Nicole’s smile from thirty feet away. “At this late stage in the competition, this puts her into thirteenth place going into the Cross Country phase tomorrow.”

Waverly patted Nicole’s thigh as she exited the arena and started to make the walk back to the stables, falling into step alongside the horse.

“That was awesome,” she told Nicole, “You’re gonna crush this course tomorrow!”

“Let’s hope so!” Nicole laughed, a bit out of breath after the effort spent controlling the horse in the big atmosphere of the arena. “He’s a great horse to ride.”

“He looks it,” Waverly said, realising she still had her hand on Nicole’s thigh and removing it. “Come on, I’ll buy you the finest burger the food wagons have to offer.”

*****

Since the first course walk, Nicole had walked the course twice more, joking that she would never need to go to the gym again as long as she kept riding at this level. Joking aside, Waverly knew Nicole took the sport very seriously, and she was happy that she didn’t have the same complacency that Willa seemed to have developed. The respect that she had for the courses she went up against was actually one of the things Waverly most appreciated about her, and she told her as much as they finished up the final checks on Nicole’s gear in preparation for the next day of riding.

Nicole shrugged off the compliment, ducking her head almost shyly. “It’s just common sense, really.” She said. “If you underestimate a course, it’ll get the best of you. Even sometimes when you don’t underestimate it, you can still end up on the floor.”

Waverly knew how true that was. She herself had suffered a fall from Peacemaker at a small event back in Canada. She’d been sixteen years old, taking Peacemaker to one of his first mid-level competitions, and even though she had ridden carefully, her horse had still left a leg at one of the jumps. Leaving a leg simply meant that when his front legs snapped up to clear the fence, one of them hadn’t come up fast enough and had caught on the top of the fence, throwing him off his balance completely. As a result, they had both tumbled to the ground, unhurt but shaken up. The only positive that had come out of that situation was that Peacemaker had learned his lesson and had never made the same mistake again, making him one of the most careful jumpers Waverly had ever seen, let alone ridden.

“Don’t jinx yourself,” Waverly laughed, checking Nicole’s air vest to make sure it was all in order. “I’d hate to have come all this way for nothing.”

“How inconsiderate would that be?” Nicole agreed with a sly smile. She paused before she continued. “I meant what I said the other day, though. I’m really glad you’re here.”

The butterflies were there again.

“Well, you did insist on paying for my plane ticket as a thank-you,” Waverly replied. “How could I pass up a free trip to the biggest Event in America?”

“Even if you do have to deal with a smarmy boy-man hanging on your every word?”

Waverly laughed. “Even then.”

*****

Watching the monitors with Nicole and Champ on the morning of the Cross Country proved to be an interesting experience. Nicole wanted to see as many people ride the course as she could, and her late draw meant that she could watch over half the field try their luck on the course.

So far it was proving to be every bit as challenging as Waverly had expected, especially with the light but constant rain making the ground that bit more slippery. Having competed here last year, she knew how tough the course was, and this year’s course was perhaps even more difficult. Many horses were stopping or running past fences, and there had even been a couple of falls – thankfully, not serious ones. Some of the riders that had been ahead of Nicole in the Dressage phase had slipped behind her, and if Nicole could pull off a clear round with minimal or no time penalties, she would have a shot at a top five placing going into the final day of competition.

Nicole changed into her Cross Country clothes after lunch. Long black riding boots, white breeches, and a black base layer, body protector and air vest. Her crash helmet had a matching black silk, contrasting with her pale skin and bright red hair. She readjusted the sit of her stopwatch on her wrist and pulled on her gloves, checking her blunt spurs were tight enough around the backs of her boots. Her number bib sat over the top of her air vest, the number ‘63’ typed in a large font on the paper that was held inside the clear plastic bib itself.

“How do I look?” She asked.

“Um, ready to go,” Waverly said, suddenly nervous for her. It hit her that Nicole was about to tackle one of the most difficult Cross Country courses in the world on a horse she had ridden only two or three times.

Pete and Jeremy brought Buenos Aires from the stables to meet them at the warm up area, the horse tacked up in a lot more fancy gear than Nicole normally used. Waverly wasn’t even sure what some of the contraptions were meant to accomplish, but this was the horse’s usual tack, so who was she to question it?

As Nicole mounted up and began to put Buenos Aires through his paces, Waverly caught sight of two men she recognised as fellow Canadian competitors walking on foot across the space set up for warm ups. Their names came to Waverly after a moment of wracking her brain. One was Xavier Dolls, the man who had placed second at last year’s Burghley Horse Trials. The other man was known as Doc Holliday, though she didn’t know for sure if that was his given name. Doc had more experience than any other Canadian rider. He was in his early forties now, and Waverly had never seen another rider so in tune with his horses. They had both put in clear rounds earlier to take them quite high up the leaderboard after fairly decent Dressage scores, and Waverly felt a bit of trepidation, knowing they were both hoping for Olympic selection too.

Doc had been a stalwart of the Olympic team for the previous three competitions, and Dolls had also been a part of the team the year Nicole went as an individual, so Waverly knew they were much more likely to be selected than her, and she fought off the sinking feeling in her stomach as the men drew close enough for her to overhear their conversation.

“All I am saying is that you would not have picked up time faults if you had simply pushed on inbetween fences,” Doc was saying, and Dolls groaned and rolled his eyes.

“You’re a pain in the ass, Holliday,” he said, “Do you think I don’t know that? We can’t all have the privilege of a horse as experienced as yours.”

Despite their words, they walked comfortably together, and it seemed like they were, in fact, friends. Even from a brief look at them, it seemed like an odd friendship, but Waverly supposed that when you were on teams together sometimes bonds would form, and it could be surprising which ones lasted and which ones didn’t.

None of her bonds with fellow team members had lasted.

*****

As the time of Nicole’s round drew closer, Waverly felt herself getting more and more nervous – perhaps even more nervous than for her own rounds. She supposed it had something to do with the lack of control over what was going to happen; she had no say in how Nicole’s round would turn out, and that scared her.

“Be careful,” she said to Nicole, as the rider before her jumped from the start box to begin his round.

“I always am,” Nicole said.

Champ scoffed. “Just remember whose horse you’re riding,” he said. “Plus, if you get round clear you could actually win this whole thing.”

Nicole said nothing, but Waverly knew she was taking Champ’s words onboard, and she could see why. Nicole wanted to be successful, wanted to make a good name for herself, and on a course like this you had to be brave as well as careful.

The added bonus of $130,000 as a first prize was also a good incentive for a fast clear round, even though Nicole probably would only get a minuscule cut from Champ in the unlikely event she won.

The steward called Nicole over for her two minute warning, and Waverly gave Buenos Aires’ face one last stroke, running her fingers over the raised leather of the horse’s noseband, as well as the strip of strong tape beneath it, meant to help open the horse’s airways so he could breathe easier as he galloped.

Waverly re-took her place near the monitors with Champ, Pete and Jeremy, ready to watch the coverage from the multiple cameras placed around the course. The event was filmed, and Waverly knew that, back in the UK at least, it would be broadcast sometime in the next week. Maybe they’d be back in time to see it on television.

“Five, four, three, two, one, go! Good luck,” The steward called to Nicole as Buenos Aires sprang forward and instantly settled into a gallop, leaping the first fence in beautiful style. Waverly focused intently on the monitor screen as she heard the commentator announce Nicole.

“And now getting underway is competitor number sixty-three, Nicole Haught and Buenos Aires,” he said. “She was a recent rider substitution due to the injury suffered by regular rider Champ Hardy-“ Champ whooped at the mention of his name, and Waverly shushed him impatiently. “The ground is now significantly worse than it was at the start of proceedings, so she will have her work cut out for her, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting them as the horse takes the second fence in his stride.”

Luckily, they had planned ahead for the ground, screwing large metal studs into Buenos Aires’ shoes to give him a much better grip over the fairly sodden bluegrass course. Waverly just hoped it would be enough. The next couple of jumps went smoothly, and Nicole was soon facing down the approach to the huge Keeper’s Brush at fence five. She was nearly two minutes into the course, which had an optimum time of eleven minutes and fifteen seconds, and so far it was looking good.

Waverly’s heart jumped into her throat as she saw Nicole kick on towards the towering fence, chasing an ambitious stride. Buenos Aires put in a huge effort, leaping the ditch and brush obstacle and flying through the air before landing safely on the other side.

“Ouch,” Jeremy said from next to her, and Waverly looked down to realise she was crushing his hand in fear. She let go.

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly.

Nicole patted the horse’s neck as they galloped towards the next obstacle, rewarding him for his brave leap at the previous fence.

The next jump had a pond shortly after the landing side of it, and Buenos Aires hesitated as he landed. Maybe he had scared himself a bit with the big jump at the brush, Waverly reasoned. Nicole gave him a swift kick to encourage him, and he made a better job of jumping the fence sculpted to look like a huge duck in the water.

The fence straight after that was another small water obstacle, where the horse landed over the first element on dry ground which then sloped down into the pond, and again, Buenos Aires wasn’t very confident, but he jumped the fence all the same, locking on to the narrow jump on the other side of the body of water. Nicole patted him, short and sharp, and Waverly knew it was a warning as well as a reward. It also seemed like a plea. _Trust me_ , she was asking the horse.

Nicole motored on, back in her fast rhythm as she chased the optimum time up the hill to a big table-style fence at the top. Once that was behind them, they began the run downhill, Buenos Aires picking up speed as they went towards another big brush obstacle, which they negotiated a bit safer than they had the Keeper’s Brush earlier in the course.

There was another long gallop to the next group of fences, which included the famous Head of the Lake. The Lake was one of the toughest questions the horses would be asked on the course, and Buenos Aires’ hesitance at the previous water jumps caused Waverly’s stomach to tighten uncomfortably. They were only just over four minutes into the course and it didn’t exactly bode well.

Nicole and her horse jumped the fence before the lake well, and made the right-hand turn to face the gappy drop fence into the water. The colour drained from Waverly’s cheeks as she saw Buenos Aires backing off of the fence, despite Nicole encouraging him with everything she had.

_He’s not going to jump it_ , Waverly thought as she watched the screen intently. Nicole gave the horse a quick slap on the shoulder with her whip, which she hadn’t used until this point, trying to convince him that it was okay to trust her and take the jump. For a second, Waverly truly thought Buenos Aires was going to refuse, and a part of her begged Nicole to let him and just accept the twenty penalties.

But Nicole was nothing if not a determined rider, so she growled at the horse and gave him one final encouraging kick, and he jumped, barely even lifting one of his front legs as he ploughed through the brush on top of the log, the crowd drawing a collective gasp.

It all seemed to happen in slow-motion, as Buenos Aires slithered low over the top of the jump, catching his back legs slightly on the way down. Nicole had slipped the reins to the buckle, leaning backwards in the saddle to counteract the steep dive the front end of the horse was taking. He twisted in mid-air as the jolt of catching on the fence began to affect him; he tipped further forwards from the combination of hitting it with a front and back leg, and catapulted Nicole out of the saddle.

She was flung into the cold water at a high speed, somersaulting as she was pitched forwards past the point of no return, and hit the water with a hard splash. Buenos Aires buckled on landing and went over onto his side in the water, scrambling to get back upright.

Waverly didn’t even hesitate before taking off in a sprint towards the Lake, barely hearing Jeremy shouting after her. Her lungs screamed at her to slow down, but she ignored the burn and kept going until she reached the scene of the fall.

To her relief, Nicole looked mostly uninjured, and was half walking, half being dragged to the edge of the Lake by the attendants on hand. Buenos Aires stood to the side on dry land, being held by a steward, his sides heaving as the adrenaline still coursed through his body. As she drew closer to Nicole, Waverly could see her gasping, as her air vest had done its job and inflated to cushion her fall, but had made it hard for her to catch her breath. One of the attendants had unclipped her helmet and number bib, pulling them off so that the air vest and body protector could be removed too. Nicole sat on the ground, leaning forwards as she coughed up water, dripping from head to toe, but finally able to take the deep breaths she needed as she removed her gloves and put them in her hat.

Waverly reached her a few seconds afterwards, flinging herself at Nicole. She was okay.

She felt bad for probably knocking what little breath Nicole had straight back out of her again with the force with which she slammed into her, but she couldn’t bring herself to care too much. She wrapped her arms tight around Nicole’s shoulders and felt Nicole’s hands come up to rest on her back, and Waverly panted hard, tired from the sprint there.

“Waves,” She heard Nicole gasp, before an attendant gently peeled her off of Nicole so that she was kneeling on the grass.

“We still need to examine her,” he explained, looking a little exasperated at the whole display. Waverly could hear some worried murmurs from the large crowd gathered at the Lake, and it snapped her back to reality. Right. The officials had a job to do.

When she looked back to her, Nicole’s eyes were locked on her own. “How’s – how’s the horse?” She asked.

Waverly glanced over to Buenos Aires, who was looking calmer as he stood on the other side of the Lake. In the distance, she saw Jeremy approaching at a run, pumping his legs as fast as they would carry him.

“He looks fine. He’s up on his feet anyhow,” Waverly reassured her, sitting back on her haunches as she took Nicole’s hand, wanting to make sure she was really here, and okay. “I think you were both winded more than anything.”

The attendant confirmed, seemingly being the first-aider that had been closest at the time of the fall. “She’s right, nothing broken. You’ll probably wake up with some serious bruises, but I’m happy to let you go back to the stables.”

Waverly stood up then, helping Nicole to her feet, and the crowd applauded the sight of the fallen rider standing again. The attendant handed Nicole’s discarded bits of gear to Waverly, and she took them with one hand, wrapping the other arm around Nicole’s waist to help her along. Nicole, still a bit winded, leaned on Waverly slightly as she walked, one arm around Waverly’s shoulder for support as they made their way over to where Buenos Aires was now being held by Jeremy.

“What was that all about, buddy?” Nicole asked the horse as she reached out her free hand to stroke gently down Buenos Aires’ face.

Buenos Aires snorted gently, shaking his head to rid his ears of water. The four of them made the slow walk back to the stables, more of the proper colour coming back to Nicole’s cheeks every minute.

“I thought I told you to be careful,” Waverly said gently, still shaken after watching the fall.

“I’m sorry,” Nicole said. “I wanted – I just wanted to be able to do it. Get on a horse and go, like the pros do.”

It hit Waverly, in that moment, that Nicole was still a relatively unknown and inexperienced rider, not unlike herself. She didn’t yet have the range and the years of experience she needed to simply jump on a horse and take it round a four star competition, even though she wanted to.

Nicole sighed heavily, looking dejected, and Waverly signalled Jeremy to continue on as she took Nicole aside, away from the crowds.

“Hey, look at me,” Waverly said, keeping her arm around Nicole but turning so she was facing her more. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Yeah, maybe you could’ve let him refuse the jump, but what would you have been teaching him then?”

“But, he had problems with the earlier water jumps.” Nicole muttered, sniffing slightly. The rain that continued to fall dripped down her face, loose strands of her hair plastered to her cheeks. “I thought that if I gave him enough encouragement, he’d trust me enough to jump it. Stupid.”

“It’s not stupid,” Waverly said firmly. “You did what you’ve been trained to do; not give up even if a horse lacks confidence. You had a fall, it happens to the best of us, but you’re okay and so is the horse, and that’s all that matters. Forget winning, forget Champ wanting the prize money, focus on that instead.”

Nicole still looked like she was going to cry, the ordeal finally catching up to her fully, so Waverly stepped forwards and hugged her, standing on her toes to rest her chin on Nicole’s still-soaked shoulder.

“You had a bad fall, you’ve had a shock,” Waverly whispered. “You can cry if you want to, I won’t judge.”

Nicole huffed out a little laugh, “Thanks, but I already feel dumb enough as it is without turning on the waterworks.”

Waverly gave her waist a squeeze and pulled back, unwinding her arm from around Nicole’s middle. “Come on, they’ll be wondering where we’ve got to.”

When they finally made it back to the stable block, Jeremy stepped out of Buenos Aires’ stall and took one look at the pair of them; Nicole soaked head to toe from her dip in the Lake, and the front of Waverly’s clothes damp from hugging her.

“Nicole,” Jeremy said. “You’ve made Waverly all wet.”

Nicole choked on the air in her lungs, and Waverly’s eyes went wide as she tried to find words; any words at all.

Jeremy looked between them confusedly. “What?”

*****

When Waverly next saw Champ later that afternoon, back at his fancy lorry, she wasted no time in storming right up to him.

“’Sup, Waves,” he greeted her, and Waverly didn’t miss the way his eyes raked up and down her body.

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped, getting into his personal space with all of the threatening energy she could muster. “I figured it out.”

“Figured what out?” Champ was confused.

“What happened at the Lake,” Waverly continued. “See, I couldn’t understand why Buenos Aires had that problem. After all, he jumped the other water fences without falling. Do you remember that first course walk we all did?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“Nicole noticed the gap on the drop fence, between the bottom of the log and the ground. You could see the water through it, which you couldn’t for any of the other water jumps.” Waverly pressed on, jabbing her finger into the man’s chest. “She asked you if it would be a problem for your horse, and you said _no_.”

Champ frowned at her, clearly struggling to remember the details of the conversation.

“You said he would be fine with it. Nicole _trusted_ you, and I’m willing to bet my life that you lied to her on purpose. You knew he would be scared, and you still let Nicole risk both herself and your horse anyway. God, that’s probably how you broke your arm, trying something similar to that fence!” Waverly’s voice rose, louder and louder, until she was practically shouting. “Are you really that desperate for the prize money that you would risk the safety of your own horse?”

Champ sneered at her. “Listen sweetheart, it’s not my fault that bitch of yours doesn’t know how to ride.”

Waverly slapped him, hard.

Champ’s hand came up to his cheek, his eyes wide in shock.

“You stay away from her,” Waverly threatened lowly, “Jeremy and me too, for that matter. Otherwise, I will bring the pain. Do you understand?”

Champ nodded mutely, and Waverly turned on her heel and stalked away, waiting until she was out of sight to massage her stinging palm.

*****

Once Nicole had changed into a dry set of clothes, her mood seemed to improve significantly, and in a way she almost looked relieved that the pressures of the competition were gone. She even joined Waverly and Jeremy to watch the highlights of the day being broadcast on the screens in one of the riders’ facilities that evening.

Accompanying each clip from the day’s action was a title on the screen, such as _Holliday makes it look like a vacation_ , as clips of Doc and his white-grey horse Ghost River jumping multiple fences with ease played, and _Xavier Dolls and Classified keep the competition at bay_ , as they saw Dolls and his bay horse clear the last fence and Dolls punch the air in triumph. This continued, until they saw a clip of Nicole approach The Head of the Lake. She felt Nicole snap to attention beside her, keen to actually see what went wrong.

She winced as Buenos Aires left a leg at the fence, making a messy job of it, and corkscrewed in mid-air. Waverly watched again as Nicole was flung out of the saddle, and she had to remind herself that Nicole was fine; she was sitting next to her. Nicole groaned as she read the caption that accompanied the clips of her.

_Nicole Haught cools off as she makes waves at The Head of the Lake._

“Wow,” Jeremy muttered from Nicole’s other side. “Gotta give them props for creativity, though.”

Waverly and Nicole turned simultaneously and glared at him. Jeremy held up his hands in surrender. “Too soon, right. Got it.”

Waverly’s phone pinged with a notification, and she unlocked it to see a message from Chrissy.

_How’s Nicole doing after the fall?_

Waverly’s eyebrows furrowed, and she typed out a response quickly.

_Wait how did you know? It hasn’t been broadcast yet…_

She didn’t have to wait long for a reply.

_Twitter, duh!_

The next thing Chrissy sent her was a gif, evidently taken from someone’s phone as they filmed the fall. The gif was of Nicole somersaulting ungracefully through the air, looping on and on and on. She nudged Nicole’s shoulder with her own and tilted the screen of her phone towards her.

“Wow,” Nicole commented. “Figures that the first time twitter takes an interest in me is because of this.”

“No such thing as bad press, right?” Waverly joked, pulling a smile from Nicole.

“Guess not. Ten out of ten for the landing, though?”

“Hmm,” Waverly pretended to think. “Maybe a nine point five. There’s always room for improvement.”

“Maybe I ought to practice some more,” Nicole said, and Waverly gasped.

“Don’t you dare!” She said. “I was terrified enough this time.”

Nicole’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly, and Waverly suddenly wondered if she had done or said something wrong.

“I didn’t know I scared you that badly,” Nicole muttered, eyes fixed on Waverly’s own, and she felt hot under the gaze.

“W-well, we’re friends right?” Waverly reasoned. “Of course I was scared.”

Nicole nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Yeah, I guess we are friends, aren’t we?”

“Travelling to two different countries together in the space of a month can do that,” Waverly replied weakly.

Jeremy gasped. “Does that mean we’re friends too, Waverly?”

Waverly jolted, embarrassed that she had completely forgotten Jeremy was there too. “Yep, sure does,” she said, and if her voice sounded slightly strangled, the others were too kind to comment.

*****

“The Showjumping is always so much more fun to watch when you’re not worrying about competing,” Nicole said as the first rider cantered into the ring. It was midday on the dot, and there were still over fifty competitors left in the competition after two phases. Some of them had massive penalty scores of over a hundred, amassed from refusals and time penalties added to Dressage scores, but they were all fighting to complete, as to make it to the end of any four star competition was still a big achievement. Waverly was familiar with the feeling.

To her relief, Nicole had woken up to only minor aches and pains, the body protector and air vest having done what they were designed to do. There was no doubt that Nicole would be well enough to compete at Badminton next week.

“In the ring now is competitor number thirteen, the USA’s Angela Gryzwinski riding Novelle,” the commentator’s voice crackled over the loudspeaker. “She’s sitting on a penalty score of 179.1 after the Cross Country.”

Waverly grimaced. That was never a good position to be in. And when Novelle knocked a fence down to add four more penalties to their score, Waverly sighed, clapping hard for the poor woman as she left the arena.

As it turned out, the clear rounds were few and far between.

By the time the top five were about to jump, the course had tripped up about ninety per cent of the riders, and the ones that didn’t knock fences down usually picked up a few time faults instead. It was frustrating to watch, sat in the grandstand, so Waverly couldn’t even imagine how frustrating it would be to ride.

Waverly sat up straighter in her seat as she recognised the next rider who entered the arena. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nicole snap to attention too.

“Sitting in fifth place after the Cross Country phase is our next competitor, Canada’s Xavier Dolls. He rides Classified, and they are currently on a score of 48.6,” the commentator announced as the bell rung, signalling that Dolls was free to start his round. A hush fell over the crowd as Classified, a large bay gelding that Waverly guessed was thoroughbred crossed with some type of warmblood, took the first jump well.

Normally, it showed that these horses had galloped and jumped over six kilometres the previous day, but clearly this horse wasn’t feeling any ill-effects or tiredness, as he jumped each fence with textbook style and precision. Waverly knew before the round was even over that they wouldn’t be adding any penalties to their score.

She was right. Even from the grandstand, she could hear Dolls’ whoop as his horse cleared the final fence, and she cheered along with the rest of the crowd. The next rider in was another man she recognised – from yesterday, but also from years of watching him compete on the television. His horse was almost pure white, his coat standing out in the dim hues of his surroundings, the constant drizzle of rain muting most of the normally-vibrant colours of the Showjumping course.

“Competitor number twenty, also riding for Canada, is Doc Holliday and Ghost River,” the commentator said. “He is sitting just ahead of Xavier Dolls on a score of 47.3, so he can afford a time penalty to stay ahead, but no more than that.”

Waverly had to admit that Ghost River’s style wasn’t as clean and precise as Classified’s had been, but she knew this horse was very experienced, and his rider even more so. But more than that, she could see that man and horse were very much on the same page, and there were no visible errors throughout the whole round. As the grey flicked his tail as he landed over the final fence, the crowd once again burst into applause.

Waverly was nearly beside herself. There had been barely any clear rounds until this point, then not one but two Canadian riders had defied the odds and delivered clean score sheets when it really mattered. She felt a growing sense of excitement for the coming Olympics in London. Whether she was selected or not, her home country could be in contention for a medal.

The next two riders both faulted and dropped below Doc and Dolls, and everyone waited with baited breath for the overnight leader to begin his round. Waverly felt bad for willing the fences to fall, but she couldn’t help her patriotism, and if the way Nicole’s jaw was set tight beside her, neither could she.

The leader did, in fact, knock one jump down, but it wasn’t quite enough to lose the lead, and Waverly clapped a tad bitterly as he took a lap of honour after clearing the final fence to celebrate his win. Still, second and third place weren’t bad, she supposed. Plus, it was still very decent prize money that was claimed by the two men, as well as making a statement to the team selectors.

Even so, when the prize-giving ceremony took place and Nicole leaned over to her and whispered, “God, I wish that were me,” Waverly was inclined to agree.

*****

All too soon it was time to go back to England.

Rather than spend any more time around Champ or Pete, the three of them chose instead to get a cab to the airport, and they spent their time in the terminal arguing over where to eat dinner, and Waverly felt like she belonged with these people.

The flight left Lexington on Sunday evening and they landed in Birmingham back in the UK mid-afternoon the next day. Waverly was exhausted. They had been made to deal with two layovers during their flight, which had meant being on a plane as it took off three times, which had meant Jeremy cutting off the circulation to whoever’s hand was closest three times. As their longest flight was over the Atlantic on the second plane (they’d had to go to Chicago first, for _some_ reason), Waverly had quickly secured the seat next to Nicole on the two-seater part of the plane, leaving Jeremy to find a spare seat with someone else. She had shrugged apologetically at him, before promptly dropping her head on Nicole’s shoulder and falling asleep.

Nicole hadn’t seemed to mind, and Waverly had woken up to the side of Nicole’s head leaning against the top of hers, smiled, and gone back to sleep.

Chrissy picked them up from the airport, chatting a mile a minute about how Peacemaker was in perfect condition to compete at Badminton, and how she had gotten everything packed into the lorry while they were away. They were to leave tomorrow afternoon; Badminton was luckily a short drive from their yard, which Waverly appreciated now more than ever after all the travelling she had done in the past month to and from competitions.

Still, she groaned at the thought of only one night in her comfy bed at the farmhouse. Not that she minded sleeping in the lorry, or in a tent as she had in Lexington, but there was nothing better than the safety and familiarity of her own bed.

After they dropped Nicole and Jeremy off on the way back, Chrissy turned to Waverly.

“Spill.”

“About what?” Waverly didn’t know why, but she felt herself getting oddly defensive.

“Nicole. Is she really okay after that fall? From what I saw, it looked bad.” Chrissy said, tapping the steering wheel anxiously, and Waverly relaxed.

“Yeah, I think she’s fine,” she replied. “She’s tough, she’ll put it behind her as soon as she’s back on Annie where she belongs.”

“It did look weird seeing the clips of her riding a non-ginger horse,” Chrissy admitted.

“Right?!” Waverly agreed, and the two of them dissolved into giggles. “So, is it just gifs of her falling into the water then? None of the flyer she took at Keeper’s Brush?”

“There’s a couple,” Chrissy said. “But I wouldn’t look up her name on twitter, if I were you. Or your own, for that matter.”

“Why not?”

Chrissy snorted. “Because there are multiple gifs and clips of you running towards Nicole like you were going for the hundred metre gold. People noticed, Waves.”

“Oh,” Waverly hadn’t even thought about that. “Please tell me there aren’t any memes.”

“I could, but I’d be lying,” Chrissy told her. “Some of them are actually pretty funny.”

“No,” Waverly groaned. “I wanted to be an Olympian, not a meme!”

“Who says you can’t be both?” Chrissy reasoned. “Dream big!”

Waverly rolled her eyes. Chrissy paused, starting up her nervous tapping on the steering wheel again as they pulled off the main road down the track that led to the Earp yard.

“Is there anything you want to tell me, about Nicole?” Chrissy asked cautiously. “Whatever you say, it’s completely okay.”

Waverly was confused. Surely Chrissy couldn’t be implying…

“Nope,” she said. “Nothing. Nada.”

Chrissy nodded, clearly wanting to say more but not wanting to push the matter. They parked, and stepped out of the car. Waverly immediately ran to the paddocks to see Peacemaker waiting for her with his head over the gate, Pikachu standing beside him.

Feeling pathetic for the tears she had to wipe from her eyes upon seeing her horses again, Waverly wrapped an arm around each of their heads. “I missed you guys,” she said, laughing when Peacemaker butted his head against her ribs. “Oof. Thanks for that. Point taken, I won’t leave you again!”

The grey snorted, and it sounded an awful lot like, _yeah, you better not_.

*****

Out of curiosity, Waverly searched Nicole’s name on twitter as soon as she was back in the farmhouse. The majority of the results were gifs of her fall at Lexington, and Waverly scrolled past those quickly. Seeing it once had been enough. She also scrolled past the memes of herself sprinting. She really didn’t want to know.

There were a few pictures of her kneeling next to Nicole at the side of the Lake, holding her hand, soon after she had arrived on the scene. The pictures were slightly blurry, as if they had been taken on a phone and then zoomed in, but there was no mistaking that the figures were herself and Nicole.

The captions on the pictures ranged from ‘ _Unknown woman with fallen rider Nicole Haught_ ’ and ‘ _Waverly Earp comforts fellow Canadian Eventer Nicole Haught after a bad fall at #Lexington_ ’, all the way to things like ‘ _be still my beating heart_ ’, ‘ _omg this is the cutest friendship ever_ ’ and ‘ _asdfghjkl hashtag blesst_ ’, which Waverly assumed was a spelling error.

She scrolled down further, and another picture caught her eye. It was a better quality photo than the others, presumably taken on a DSLR camera rather than a phone. In the picture, Waverly had her back to the camera as she hugged Nicole, and Nicole’s eyes were closed as she buried her face in Waverly’s shoulder. Waverly recognised it as the moment she was comforting Nicole on the way back to the stables after the fall. She didn’t know how she felt about such an intimate and emotional moment being captured, but she saved the picture to her phone before she could really question it.

The caption of the photo confused her somewhat. There were a lot of emojis, and the few words attached to the photo (that Waverly didn’t really understand) simply read:

‘ _i totally ship it’_

*****

Waverly slept away the rest of the day and, as a result, woke early the next morning, her stomach full of butterflies. This was it. Today was the day she was leaving for her first ride at Badminton Horse Trials. Grinning to herself, she threw back the covers and practically leapt out of bed. She quickly pulled on some old jeans and a worn, loose shirt that she tied in a knot at the back to keep the hem out of her way. She had emptied her suitcase straight into the washing machine the previous day, and she piled in new clean clothes for the rest of the week, as well as her competition clothes. Well, her competition clothes with the exception of her Dressage and Showjumping jackets, which were already on hangers in the lorry.

She fired off a quick text to Nicole that read: _I’M SO EXCITED_ , and raced downstairs to find Wynonna half-asleep at the kitchen table. Waverly pressed a quick kiss to the top of her sister’s head on her way out the front door, receiving a sleepy “What the hell?” in return.

She made her way to the barn to find Chrissy already at work.

“Whatever I’m paying you, it’s not enough,” she told Chrissy earnestly, watching her distribute the horses’ breakfasts to them. Chrissy shot her a smile.

“Damn right,” she said. “I take it you’re excited about this week.”

Waverly could barely contain her squeal. “I guess I was so focused on everything in Kentucky that it didn’t really hit me until I got back that I’m about to compete at Badminton. _Badminton_ , Chrissy!”

“Sorry, where is it you’re competing again?” Chrissy asked. “I don’t think I heard you the first million times.”

“Sorry. I’m being, like, really annoying, aren’t I?”

“No more than usual,” Chrissy grinned. “I’m used to it. But, for what it’s worth, I’m really excited for this too, Waves.”

“Good, cause as my head groom-“

“Your only groom.”

“You’re just as big a part of this team as I am,” Waverly declared, feeling an overwhelming rush of affection for her friend. “You didn’t have to move out here with us, but you did. And I’m so glad you did.”

“Me too,” Chrissy said. “I mean, if nothing else, the guys’ accents here are to die for.”

Waverly rolled her eyes, knowing she was only half-joking. “Yeah, yeah, we’ll see if we can find you a nice English stable lad while we’re there.”

“Awesome.”

Her phone pinged, and Waverly fished it out of her pocket to see that Nicole had replied.

_ME TOO!_

*****

When everything was packed, double checked and triple checked, and it was finally time to load the horses and go, Waverly fetched Peacemaker from his stall and stood him just outside the lorry while Willa loaded Eve.

“Listen to me, boy,” she told the horse, “there’s probably some stuff you’re going to find quite difficult over there, but I know you can do it. I know you can do anything, okay?”

Peacemaker simply looked at her, but Waverly knew he understood. He always understood her, and it was one of the reasons they were such a good partnership. She would always be grateful they found each other, even if it was through the grief of losing Pikachu’s mother.

She knew Wynonna buying him for her hadn’t been out of pity, like Willa had claimed during their fight in Tartas. Wynonna had seen something special in the horse as a four year old, and maybe she had thought he could help Waverly heal, or maybe she had wanted to gift him to her in order to make up for the years they weren’t close. Whatever her reasons, Waverly would never forget it.

“Are you done?” Willa asked impatiently, but even she couldn’t bring Waverly’s mood down.

“Never,” she replied, taking Peacemaker’s rope and leading him up the ramp. She tied him up next to his haynet, which he immediately started snacking on, and jumped back down to the ground. Chrissy jumped into her car, ready to follow them, as Wynonna pressed the button near the back of the lorry that commanded the hydraulics to lift the ramp up, and Waverly made her way to the cab, scooting across to the middle seat. Willa climbed in after her, and Wynonna pulled herself up and into the driver’s seat, and Waverly didn’t even try to hide her smile as the lorry chugged up the track, towards the biggest challenge of her riding career so far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Waverly's first ride at Badminton, the Cross Country tests Nicole, Willa's still kind of a bitch, and Chrissy is the captain of the WayHaught ship!
> 
> As ever, I love comments so feel free to leave one! Also if you have any thoughts, feelings and/or questions my tumblr is @ilovemyships
> 
> Love you guys!


	3. Badminton

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you to anyone who has read, left kudos, bookmarked, and left comments - I really appreciate it!
> 
> I know one or two people expressed concern about this; so consider this my promise that I will not harm any of the horses in this fic!
> 
> Anyway I couldn't really find individual Cross Country rounds for guides, but here's a link to the full broadcast:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_eMFptrExs  
> Less experienced rider: 1:09:30 - 1:19:00 (includes another rider falling but both she and the horse were fine)  
> Very experienced rider: 1:53:58 - 2:06:00 
> 
> Also this is the longest chapter of anything I've written ever at about 14k words lmao.
> 
> Enjoy!

The atmosphere at Badminton was already buzzing.

By the time the Earp lorry arrived at the venue, most of the competitors had already parked up and formed their little camps. As they drove slowly through the parking area, Wynonna spotted a familiar horsebox.

“Hey, it’s Haught-stuff’s lorry,” she took one hand off the wheel to point it out to Waverly and Willa. “Let’s go annoy her by parking next to her.”

“It can be a little Canadian base,” Waverly said. In fact, there were one or two other Canadians among the field of eighty-two, but Waverly wasn’t that familiar with them. Not like she was with Nicole. The field, being an English competition, was largely made up of British riders, or foreign riders based in the country like the Earps, but there were several people who had made the trip from Europe or America; maybe some from even further away.

They pulled up in the space next to Nicole’s lorry, and Jeremy waved at them through the passenger window. It seemed they hadn’t been there for very long either. Waverly saw Willa roll her eyes, and she frowned. She didn’t see what Willa’s problem with him was. Nicole was easier; Willa was clearly threatened by her as a competitor, but Jeremy didn’t ride against her, so Waverly wasn’t quite sure what was going on there.

Maybe he was just too positive for a perpetually miserable person like Willa, Waverly considered. That could be it.

As they clambered down from the cab of the lorry, Waverly saw Nicole emerge from the driver’s side of her own horsebox, and her face immediately split into a smile.

“Hey guys, fancy running into you here,” Nicole greeted them, and Wynonna groaned.

“I should’ve known better than to think you’d be annoyed by us being right next to you,” she lamented. “I suppose you and Waverly are already planning the slumber party.”

She said it innocently enough, but for some reason Waverly noticed the slight flush that came to Nicole’s cheeks as she struggled for a response.

“Well, far be it from me to leave anyone out so everyone’s invited,” she said, and Jeremy fistpumped.

“I never got invited to slumber parties growing up,” he said, “the guys at school never seemed as keen on them as the girls were, for some reason.”

“Because nobody wants someone _like_ _you_ there,” Willa said sharply, “they’d be afraid to sleep.” The whole group turned to look at her. Jeremy deflated, and Nicole’s jaw visibly clenched.

“Dude, not cool,” Wynonna said.

Waverly could tell Willa wanted to say more, but she didn’t. Not in front of Wynonna. “Sorry,” she said, not sounding very sorry at all.

Waverly realised she’d been clenching her fists at her sides. She relaxed when Willa turned away to lower the ramp of the lorry, and Wynonna grimaced at Jeremy.

“Uh, sorry about that,” she said, and Jeremy shook his head.

“No worries,” he said, but Waverly knew he wouldn’t forget that. He knew what she had been getting at, and so did Waverly.

Waverly followed Willa to the back of the lorry, and when the ramp had been lowered, she walked up it to untie Peacemaker. Once both he and Eve were off the lorry, and Nicole had brought Annie to join them, they headed over to the stables.

The list of who had what stable was pinned to the entrance of the block, and Waverly noted that she was in a stable quite far away from both Willa and Nicole. That didn’t bother her; Peacemaker wasn’t fussy about being on his own, and it actually gave her the possibility of some alone time to clear her head should things get stressful. And things getting stressful was pretty much a guarantee. Already she could feel the nerves clawing at her stomach.

Waverly’s Dressage would be on the Thursday afternoon, as she was competitor number twenty-seven. Half the field would perform their tests on Thursday, and half on Friday. The draw was supposedly random, but there always seemed to be quite a few of the big names towards the end of the order, so Waverly doubted that the running order was ever truly random. Willa, too, had her Dressage on the first day, being number thirty-nine, and Nicole would ride the afternoon of the second day wearing the number seventy-one.

That meant that Waverly’s Cross Country round was set for not long after noon on the Saturday (although the course had an optimum time of over eleven minutes, a horse was started every four minutes to speed things along). It also meant that Nicole wouldn’t be competing until mid-afternoon, which would leave Waverly plenty of time to take care of her own horse and then watch Nicole’s round, although after last week, she wasn’t sure if her nerves would be able to take it.

After Peacemaker had been settled in his stall with the haynet and water buckets Chrissy had brought from the lorry, Waverly gave him one last pat and immediately made a beeline for the Cross Country course, making a stop at the lorry to see if anyone wanted to come with her.

Nicole immediately volunteered, and so did Willa, to Waverly’s surprise. Wynonna asked how long the course was.

“Six thousand, six hundred metres,” Waverly said, and Wynonna doubled over laughing.

“No fucking way then,” she said, and Waverly smiled.

“Sure thing.”

*****

The course started easy in the main grass arena, with a decorative flower-topped box, before leaving the arena out into the park beyond. The next two obstacles were big but straight-forward; a rolltop with a brush behind it, and a flat, wide table over the top of a gaping ditch.

“Badminton used to have its own Keeper’s Brush here,” Nicole noted as they inspected the table. “Guess that’s become too easy now.”

Fence four was another bold jump, a brightly coloured hay cart that was maximum height at four foot tall and very wide. As big as they were, Waverly knew the purpose of these first few jumps was to get the horses and riders thinking forwards and riding positively. It would also be a good opportunity to save time by jumping out of a gallop, as the optimum time would undoubtedly be very challenging to get.

It was at the fifth obstacle, the staircase, where the first real challenge came. The jump was in four parts; the first was a pretty much upright fence at the top of the hill, followed almost immediately by two steps down. The drop on each step was about a metre, and at the bottom of the hill there was an angled brush fence to finish off the combination. It probably wouldn’t be the hardest challenge they’d face on the course, but it was certainly the first.

“You’ve done fences like this before,” Waverly said to Willa as they jumped down the steps. “How would you do it?”

Willa ignored her.

“What, you’re not even going to give your own sister advice?” Waverly was surprised.

Willa shrugged. “This is the big leagues, kid. Some things you’ve just got to figure out on your own.”

Waverly stopped in her tracks, incredulous. It was one thing to be competitive, but to shut her down completely… Willa went on ahead, and Waverly felt Nicole come to a halt beside her.

“Don’t let him come to it too fast,” she said quietly, “or you might get thrown down the steps if he slams the brakes on. This jump wasn’t here last year, but that’s my advice.”

Waverly turned to her, finding Nicole regarding her with a genuine look. “Thank you,” she said, and Nicole shrugged.

“You can always ask me for help,” she reassured. “I know I’m only a few years older than you, and I’m not as experienced as Willa, but all you have to do is ask.”

“I feel like I’ll definitely be taking you up on that,” Waverly smiled. “I can’t help feeling like I’m going to be out of my depth here.”

“You’ll be fine,” Nicole took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “You’ve just gotta think forwards and believe that Peacemaker can do it. That’s when the magic moments happen.”

They stayed like that, joined at the hand, and Waverly looked into Nicole’s brown eyes, feeling a sense of calm she hadn’t felt since she had woken up that morning.

“Get a goddamn move on!”

Willa’s voice cut through the moment, and Nicole dropped Waverly’s hand as if she had been burned. Waverly turned to glare at her sister, seeing that she was already walking away towards the next fence. She heaved a sigh and strode out the distance from the bottom of the second step to the fence after it, already forming a plan for how she was going to tackle it come Saturday.

The next obstacle was another table-like structure that could be jumped on the angle, and then it was on to the Lake. Like most big water jumps, the Lake had a tendency to draw the biggest crowds; spectators piled several rows deep behind the barriers hoping to see someone get a ducking in the water. Here at Badminton, the organisers even put a small grandstand by this fence so that people could have a better view of the jump.

Waverly knew enough from watching years of the competition that if you got too far out into the Lake, the water became pretty deep, so you had to commit to your line through the water to stop that from happening. She was reminded of a fall from years ago where the riderless horse had waded into the water almost up to its back, and the rider had had to retrieve it by pretty much swimming after it. It had made for entertaining viewing, but Waverly wasn’t keen for the same to happen to her.

The fence before the lake was comprised of two flatbed trucks placed back-to-back with a flower-covered table inbetween them, and it was very much a set-up fence for the Lake, as the real terror came at the combination at fence eight.

“Fuck,” Nicole muttered from beside her as she saw the element that would plunge them into the water, and Waverly immediately knew why.

The drop into the water was over a huge hanging log with a gap below it, very similar to the one that had caused Nicole’s fall at Lexington. If anything, this one was even scarier. Waverly was getting nervous looking at it, so she couldn’t imagine how Nicole was feeling.

“Remember, you’re riding Annie this time,” she told Nicole.

“You’re right,” Nicole said, although she didn’t sound convinced. She ran a hand through her loose hair. “It’s just a really big drop into the water, is all.”

Not only was that true, Waverly could see that she wouldn’t have much room for error as she eyed the obstacles out of the water. There was a step out, as was pretty common, followed by an odd-looking brush fence that invited a run-out. There was a choice of two ways out, and Waverly decided there and then that she would go for the left-hand side. It would take a couple of seconds longer, but it was a straighter line and gave her a bit more time to recover after the drop in. She could make up a couple of seconds elsewhere on the course.

The next fence was pretty easy; a white rail spread, and then there was a long gallop to the next fence, which Waverly knew Peacemaker would relish. The obstacle that came next was the hollow; two tricky corner fences, with sharp dip and rise in the ground between them. Waverly didn’t anticipate a problem there – Peacemaker was an honest horse and as long as Waverly didn’t make a stupid mistake, they would be fine.

The footbridge jump which came after was another rider frightener; an imposing bridge to be jumped on the angle over a big ditch. It was in pretty much the same place as the old Vicarage Vee fence – a jump which had struck terror into even the boldest of riders in the old days of Badminton. The footbridge was perhaps less technically challenging, but no less scary-looking, in Waverly’s opinion.

The Normandy bank followed on from the footbridge, and was a big step up onto the bank followed by a narrow fence shaped like a house on top. All in all, fairly straightforward. After a short gallop, they would run up a small hill to jump a trakhener (a log over a ditch) before continuing.

The next water fence was roughly the halfway mark and the furthest point from the start and finish, and was comprised of three logs; one at the top of a slope into the water, one in the water itself, and one at the top of the bank the other side of the water. What made it challenging was the sharp curving line that would be required to jump them, and when Waverly strode the distances out, she found they were pretty much on a half-stride, so she suspected her plan would have to be flexible.

Nicole agreed, saying, “It’s worth thinking about the alternative here. Especially if it all goes wrong over the first or second log, the options are there if you think fast enough.”

They were only halfway through the course and Waverly’s head was already swimming with plans and information. It was overwhelming. She had competed at four star events before, of course, but nothing had ever been quite this technical – or this downright terrifying.

Nicole took one look at her and Waverly could tell that she knew exactly what she was thinking.

“I won’t lie,” Nicole warned. “It’s tough. There’s a lot of new jumps compared to last year, so I get it. Even though I’ve been here before, I barely recognise some parts of the course.”

Waverly was glad that the course seemed to be intimidating Nicole as well. It meant she felt less pathetic for being scared of a bunch of timber and brush.

The next obstacle was another let-up fence, but that let-up was short lived as there was yet another water combination after it at fence number seventeen: The Mirage Pond. There was another decently-sized drop into the pond over a big brush fence, then an almost ninety-degree turn out of the water and over a sharply angled brush fence. Waverly was confident Peacemaker wouldn’t leave a leg, but she worried for some of the less ultra-careful horses.

Again, there was one more easy fence, although it was maximum dimensions, before the next tricky combination at the Corral. There was a run up a slope to a very upright rail, and Waverly noticed the pins in the jump that would give way if a horse hit it hard enough. These pins had been a fairly recent safety development to minimise the risk of horses falling, and had been doing a pretty good job since their introduction, but breaking one would cost you eleven penalties. It was better than the twenty for a refusal or the elimination of a fall, but was still something to be avoided. The horses would then run back down the slope and jump another upright rail on a sharp angle before galloping away.

It was always the more vertical fences that were the most dangerous on the Cross Country course, as the horse was travelling fast and flat and sometimes wouldn’t give the fences enough respect, bashing their legs against them as they jumped. Waverly knew she would have to slow down on the approach to the Corral, which would waste valuable time, but hopefully prevent a careless mistake.

The next few jumps were big and fairly easy. There was a two stride distance between a couple of huge brush corner fences, but Peacemaker had a big stride despite not being the tallest horse in the competition, so Waverly hoped they would be no problem. She was quite surprised to see a bullfinch at fence twenty-two, as she had seldom seen one at a competition. It was huge, as bullfinches were designed so the horse brushed through the middle of it. She prayed that Peacemaker wouldn’t try to jump clean over it, as it was two metres high, and the take-off was from water.

Nicole pulled a face at it. “I can’t remember the last time there was a bullfinch at Badminton,” she commented, walking right up to the landing side and watching as it towered over her.

“I can’t remember the last time Peacemaker jumped one,” Waverly replied.

“What do you think Willa made of it?” Nicole wondered aloud, watching as Willa marched with purpose a few hundred feet in front of them. She hadn’t spoken to them since her shutting down of Waverly near the start of the course.

“I don’t care,” Waverly said flatly. “Eve can launch her into it for all I care.”

Nicole looked at her in surprise. “I know she isn’t the nicest person, but she’s still your sister, Waverly,” she said gently.

“How can you still say that after what she said to Jeremy earlier?” Waverly said, not quite understanding the rush of anger that came to the surface.

“I know-“

“Do you?” Waverly challenged. “Cause I think you know what Willa meant when she said ‘someone like you’, and that was just as much an attack on you as it was on him!”

Nicole sighed heavily. “I’m aware. Do you think it’s the first time I’ve heard comments like that?”

“Well, no, but-“

“Willa seems like the type of person who gets a rise out of putting other people down,” Nicole said. “As much as it sucks, I know in situations like that I have to be the bigger person and not fight back, because that’s exactly what she wants!”

Nicole closed her eyes for a moment, having gotten quite heated. “Sorry,” she said, “I just know her type, is all.”

Waverly wanted to say more; to tell Nicole how cruel Willa could be to her, tell her that there were times she thought what Willa had said could be an attack on her too, but something kept her silent. Instead, she took a deep breath.

“No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have gone off like that.”

“You were expressing your frustrations, same as me,” Nicole said, giving her a tired smile. “Although, how about we talk about it all another time, and just focus on getting this course done for now?”

Waverly nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“I usually am,” Nicole replied in a teasing tone.

Waverly snorted, knocking their shoulders together as they started walking.

“Ass.”

*****

The rest of the course backed off the intensity slightly, although it still presented a wide variety of challenges until the final fence back in the main arena. She wasn’t looking forward to it, but she knew she’d have to walk it at least twice more before Saturday afternoon to really cement her plans for each obstacle.

For now though, she went back to the lorry and climbed up to the luton space above the cab, where there was a king-sized mattress that could sleep three or so people, and flopped down onto her back. The luton was pretty comfortable, and was where she, Wynonna and Chrissy usually slept at competitions, with Willa insisting on taking the single bed that was formed of the detachable tables and benches below. The only downside of it was the low ceiling, which she had been known to forget and hit her head on as she sat up.

Walking the course had exhausted her both physically and mentally. It was without a doubt the most challenging course she had ever been required to ride, and she really hoped Peacemaker was up to the challenge. Still, there were important things that came before the Cross Country – namely, the first trot up and the Dressage phase, and that would require her focus first.

She didn’t even realise she had fallen asleep until Wynonna poked her in the side a few hours later.

“You slept through dinner,” she said, as if the concept was completely alien. And to Wynonna, it was.

“Sorry, ‘m tired.”

“Aw, little Waverly’s all tuckered out,” Wynonna cooed, pinching her cheeks.

“Stop,” she huffed, burying her face in the comforter.

“Fine, but budge up,” Wynonna said. “It’s getting late and I know Willa’s gonna have me up at the ass-crack of dawn tomorrow getting Eve ready.”

“How’s Peacemaker?” Waverly asked, moving to the far end of the bed to let Wynonna in too.

“Fine, Chrissy gave him his evening feed so you don’t have to do that,” Wynonna reassured her, and Waverly made a mental note to thank her friend tomorrow.

“Okay,” Waverly said around a yawn. “Love you, sis,”

“Love you too, you little sap,” Wynonna said, ruffling Waverly’s hair before smoothing the loose strands away from her forehead. “Get some more sleep and you’ll be good to go.”

Waverly hummed in agreement as she let sleep claim her once more.

*****

The next day was a whirlwind of activity. Having slept a lot the previous night, Waverly woke early, and decided to take Peacemaker for a short gallop after breakfast, staying away from the Cross Country course where the horses weren’t yet permitted. In an ideal world, she’d show him every fence on the course and tell him how to jump them, but she knew that if she tried it she’d be eliminated faster than she could say ‘oops’.

She stood up in the stirrups, giving the horse his head as they blasted across the grass. This was what she loved; the wind whipping at her as the strong grey gelding covered the ground swiftly. She could hear his thundering hoofbeats on the ground below, and she looked down to watch their joined shadows whizz along with them. Right there and then, she felt more at peace than she had in a while.

After the gallop had succeeded in clearing the sinuses for both horse and rider, Waverly took him back to the stables, where she and Chrissy washed him until his coat shone. As soon as that was done, Chrissy chased her away so she could plait the horse’s mane in peace, ready for the first trot up inspection.

Waverly found herself wandering the grounds, which were pretty empty for now. Tomorrow they would start to fill up with spectators, and Waverly knew from her years watching Badminton on television, and being there in person to watch it herself, that by Saturday afternoon thousands of people would be meandering about the park eager to watch the riders attempt the Cross Country course.

By mid-afternoon there were already a couple of hundred people (as well as a bunch of press photographers) keen to watch the trot up, wanting to catch their first glimpse of the big names of the sport. Of course Waverly knew they weren’t there to see her, but all the same she put on a simple flowy day dress over some tights, feeling like the early May sunshine and the big occasion called for something a little more than her usual breeches and shirt. She clipped some of her hair back out of her eyes, leaving the rest loose, and pulled on some flat boots that she could easily run in. At the last second, she added some light makeup to her face, and dashed from the lorry to the stables.

She met Chrissy at Peacemaker’s stable with the horse’s bridle – which had been cleaned and polished so much the brown leather shone in the light. Chrissy gave her a thumbs up.

“You look awesome, Waves,” she promised, as Waverly smoothed down the front of her dress nervously.

“You don’t think a dress is too much?”

“Of course not. Besides, there’ll be people in way louder outfits, just you wait!” Chrissy pulled a face.

Waverly grinned. “Thanks, I think. Ready to go?”

She put Peacemaker’s bridle on, making sure the little placard that read ‘27’ was attached securely to the straps on his cheek, before taking the reins and leading him out of the stable and down to the concrete trot up area.

When she got there, she joined the vague queue of horses milling around, and was pleasantly surprised to find Nicole there at the sidelines. Handing Peacemaker off to Chrissy for a moment, Waverly snuck up behind Nicole and poked her between her shoulder blades. Nicole whirled around, her startled expression relaxing as she saw Waverly, before her eyes widened as she took in her outfit.

“Wow,” she said, her eyes scanning Waverly’s whole body quickly before snapping up to meet her eyes, and Waverly felt a blush creeping up her own face as she saw Nicole’s reaction. “Not that you don’t always look incredible, but… wow.”

“You really think so?” Waverly bit her lip to stop herself from smiling like an idiot. She didn’t know why Nicole’s thoughts mattered so much, but a part of her was pleased she had managed to elicit that reaction from her.

Nicole swallowed. “Yeah, I do.”

Her expression was open yet oddly unreadable at the same time, and Waverly couldn’t look away. The seconds of silence stretched on, until it seemed like Nicole was going to break it. Just as she opened her mouth, though, Chrissy called for Waverly.

“You’re up next!” She warned, and Waverly crashed back down to Earth.

“Shit, gotta go,” she said apologetically, and Nicole nodded, jaw still slightly ajar. “Can’t wait to see what you’re wearing later!” Waverly called over her shoulder, and she briefly caught Nicole looking down at her breeches and polo shirt with a frown.

Choosing not to dwell on the odd expression, Waverly switched into business mode, leading Peacemaker forwards in front of the vets and the larger crowd.

“Number twenty-seven, Waverly Earp and Peacemaker,” the commentator – a stout man with a clipboard and a microphone – announced, and the crowd clapped politely as Waverly clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth to encourage the horse to trot. She ran beside him down the concrete strip, slowed him to a walk to make the one-eighty turn, and ran back the way she had come with her horse trotting at her shoulder.

The vets conferred for a moment before nodding, and another wave of applause went up as the commentator announced she had passed.

Breathing a sigh of relief that she could officially start her first Badminton, Waverly met back up with Chrissy and Nicole to walk back to the stable block.

“So, Nicole, what did you think?” Chrissy asked casually.

“About?” Nicole furrowed her eyebrows.

“Waverly and Peacemaker strutting it down the red carpet,” Chrissy said it like it was obvious. “They make quite the pretty picture, don’t they?”

“They sure do,” Nicole replied, keeping her gaze straight ahead. Chrissy looked smug, though Waverly couldn’t for the life of her figure out why.

Nicole parted ways with them when they reached the stable block, saying she was going to check on how Jeremy was doing with Annie’s preparations. Waverly noticed Chrissy watching her go.

“That’s not the way to Annie’s stable,” She said with a laugh, and Waverly turned to her, confused.

“Maybe she forgot something at the lorry,” Waverly shrugged.

“Yeah, her chill,” Chrissy muttered under her breath. She cocked her head to one side as she regarded Waverly. “I love you, Waverly, but you can be so dense sometimes. She’s gone to do a last minute change of clothes.”

“But I thought she had her outfit picked?” Waverly said, still confused.

“Duh, she was already wearing the outfit she picked,” Chrissy said it slowly, like she was painstakingly spelling it out. “I’m willing to bet my life savings she’s gone to change into something a little less casual.”

“But why would she suddenly change her plans, unless…” Waverly trailed off, thinking back to her parting words to Nicole before the trot up, and Nicole’s subsequent frown at her own outfit. “Oh.”

“Finally,” Chrissy sighed, “God, that was like pulling teeth.”

“Why would Nicole change clothes just for me, though?” Waverly asked.

Chrissy groaned.

*****

Willa and Eve also passed the trot up with no problems, although she was still frosty towards Waverly when she tried to congratulate her. She tried not to let it get to her. If Willa wanted to be that way, there wasn’t a whole lot she could do about it. She could always talk to Wynonna about it, but part of her thought that maybe she wouldn’t believe her. She hated to doubt her sister, but if there was one thing Willa had always taught her, it was that family isn’t always there for you.

So far there had actually been one shock exit. Clearly someone’s horse had travelled badly and injured itself, because even from the sidelines Waverly could tell something was off with its stride. Sure enough, it had been failed on grounds of lameness, and there was nothing the rider could do about it. God, she would hate to be in that position; of being eliminated before you’d even had a chance to compete.

Before Waverly knew it, the commentator was announcing number seventy-one, and Waverly snapped to attention, recognising Nicole’s number. She turned to watch as Nicole led Annie onto the concrete to begin the trot up, and her jaw literally dropped.

Nicole always looked good, whether she was wearing her usual trot up attire of breeches and a shirt, or her competition clothes, or jeans and her favourite hoodie, but there was something about this outfit that short-circuited Waverly’s brain. She was wearing fitted black trousers, a white scoop-neck shirt, and a smart black blazer with the sleeves rolled almost to her elbows. Her hair was loose around her face, and from this distance Waverly couldn’t tell if she was wearing makeup or not, but it didn’t matter.

“This is Nicole Haught and Annie Oakley,” Waverly barely heard the commentator, and she forced her mouth closed as she tried in vain to pay attention to the actual trot up and not Nicole’s ass. Honestly, Annie could’ve been hopping on three legs and Waverly would’ve been none the wiser. Thankfully, Annie passed, and Nicole led her off the track with a huge grin splitting her face as Jeremy high-fived her.

Jeremy spotted Waverly and beckoned her over, and her legs carried her there before she could really process that this would mean she had to be around Nicole in close quarters in that outfit, but it was too late to back out now. Shaking her head to clear her mind, she put on a smile as she approached.

“Congrats on the pass, Nicole,” she greeted, giving Jeremy a quick smile.

“Thanks,” Nicole beamed, and Waverly was distracted again. Now that she was closer, she could see that Nicole had in fact put some makeup on; her eyelashes were darker and longer, her eyebrows bolder, and was that lipstick? “Waves?”

“Huh?” Realising she’d been staring at Nicole’s mouth, Waverly averted her eyes. Although that meant she was now taking in the rest of her, which, wow. Forcing her eyes up from Nicole’s hips, Waverly looked up to meet her amused gaze.

“You like it?” She asked cheekily, and Waverly nodded mutely, before clearing her throat and forcing herself to say something, anything.

“Yeah, very hot,”

 _Anything but that_.

“I mean, um,” Waverly floundered for a moment, trying to save it. “The weather, it must be quite hot, in that blazer. Which, um, looks great on you so…”

Nicole smiled softly at her, and Waverly knew she had to get out of there.

“I gotta go, uh, check on Peacemaker,” she lied, and speed-walked away from them as fast as she could without being suspicious.

 _I think not looking suspicious went out the window a long time ago_ , her brain sing-songed at her.

“Shut up, brain,” she growled. “This is all your fault, anyway.”

This would be something she really had to examine, and soon.

*****

Thankfully, Waverly managed to put thoughts of Nicole aside long enough to pull out one of her better Dressage tests. Considering how many people were sitting in the grandstand for the first day of competition, Peacemaker remained remarkably calm, and although the grey’s paces weren’t outstanding enough to earn top marks, he was precise and well-behaved. As she did her final salute to the judges, Waverly let out a huge sigh of relief and bent down to wrap her arms around her horse’s neck as the crowd erupted into applause, startling them both. She sat tight as Peacemaker leapt forwards, sitting back upright and picking up the reins to regain control of the thoroughbred. She chanced a small wave at the crowd on her way out of the arena, well aware that very few of them would know who she was, but happy for their support all the same.

“And a wonderful test from first-timers Waverly Earp and Peacemaker,” the commentator announced as they left the arena. “They have a penalty score of 40.3, putting them into the lead for Canada at this stage in the competition.”

Honestly, Waverly had just been hoping for a score below forty-five. The fact that she was nearly in the thirties, at the highest tier of international competition, blew her mind. And she still knew Peacemaker was capable of even better. She could feel it.

As soon as she slid off the horse, back in the warm up arena, she was engulfed in a hug from Wynonna. Pleasantly surprised, she hugged her sister tightly, allowing a huge smile to take over her face.

“I’m so proud of you, babygirl,” Wynonna whispered. “No matter what.”

Fighting not to get choked up, Waverly whispered her thanks back, not wanting to let go of Wynonna.

“I’ll take Peacemaker back to his stall,” Chrissy said, giving Waverly’s shoulder a squeeze. “Great job in there.”

Finally, Wynonna let her go, and Waverly missed it immediately. She looped her arm through Wynonna’s, not wanting to lose the closeness she so desperately wanted with her sister. For all they were on good terms, she couldn’t forget Wynonna’s constant siding with Willa when they were young. But Wynonna was a different person than she had been back then, and it gave Waverly hope for the future.

She saw Nicole, back in her jeans and a worn t-shirt for today, making her way towards them from the grandstand, and Waverly smiled. She felt more able to speak now that Nicole was in casual clothes that Waverly had seen her in multiple times, but her heart still felt like it skipped a beat when Nicole gave her that same soft smile.

After a split-second hesitation, Nicole wrapped her arms around Waverly’s shoulders for a quick hug, and Waverly breathed her in, feeling more relaxed and even more nervous at the same time, which she didn’t quite understand.

“I know I’m not going to still be in the lead at the end of today, let alone the end of the Dressage tomorrow,” Waverly said.

“Doesn’t matter,” Nicole said. “What matters is that you went in there and didn’t let anything affect your performance. It was just you and Peacemaker.”

“It’s kind of hard to be scared of one arena when that monster of a Cross Country course is waiting,” Waverly joked, and Nicole pulled a face.

“God, don’t remind me!”

“I am so glad I’m not you,” Wynonna said. “I’d tell those jumps to fuck off and get my drink on.”

“You don’t ride,” Waverly reminded her, all too aware of the years Wynonna had spent flat out hating horses.

“I’m aware,” Wynonna replied. “Smartest decision I ever made was to get a horse too small to be sat on. That little shit is a pain in the ass, too.”

“Take that back!” Waverly scolded. “You love Whiskey! You named him after your favourite drink, after all.”

“Sure did,” Wynonna sighed happily. “He used to be called Smudge. Poor asshole.”

Nicole looked back and forth between Waverly and Wynonna in confusion, which made Waverly laugh. Sometimes she forgot that Nicole hadn’t been hanging out with them for very long.

“Best not to question it,” she said to Nicole, who shook her head in wonderment.

“You Earp girls really are something.”

*****

Although she had said herself that she wouldn’t still be in the lead even at the end of the first day, it still stung when a few competitors, Willa among them, bested her score to leave her in fourth going into day two of Dressage. Still, she would probably stay in the top twelve or fifteen, and most were expecting the Cross Country to be very unpredictable. So if Waverly could keep the penalties to a minimum on the course, she stood a chance of moving up enough places to contest the top five going into the last day.

She told all this to Peacemaker the next morning, standing face to face with the horse in his stall as he tucked into his breakfast.

“We’ll work on your Dressage some more,” she said, “that way you won’t have to play catch-up all weekend.”

Peacemaker looked almost offended as he raised his head from the bucket his feed had been mixed in.

“Sorry,” she said. “I’m just sick of Willa being out in front every time, and then we have to chase her and it doesn’t always work out. Just cause Eve is all big and flashy, doesn’t mean she’s better than you.”

The horse shook his head and snorted, his short mane whipping from side to side as it was no longer constrained by the small plaits.

“That’s right,” Waverly grinned. “You’re special, you know that?”

“That’s one way to put it,” A voice interrupted, and Waverly cursed whoever was up there listening as Willa let herself into Peacemaker’s stable, standing in front of Waverly and folding her arms across her chest.

“What do you want?” Waverly sighed.

“That’s no way to talk to your dear sister,” Willa commented airily. “Or have you forgotten who got you into this sport in the first place?”

“What do you _want_?” Waverly repeated through gritted teeth.

“To talk,” Willa continued, a smirk playing across her face. “See, I have it on good authority that the selectors are considering you for the Olympics.”

“Who told you that?” Waverly’s heart jumped, but she knew better than to trust Willa’s word.

“I have friends in high places,” Willa deflected. “But he said that the selectors are tossing up between you and Haught. One wonders that if something were to go wrong for her at this Event, she might be out of contention, and that would mean you being on the team.”

“You’d better not be suggesting what I think you are,” Waverly said lowly.

“I’m not telling you to harm her or that ginger beast of hers,” Willa rolled her eyes. “All I’m saying is that she can be easily distracted when it comes to you.” Her eyes glinted dangerously.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“She’s a _gay_ , Waverly!” Willa hissed, and Waverly’s shoulders tightened.

“I know,” Waverly said. “I don’t have a problem with that, but clearly you do.”

“Because it’s not right,” Willa protested, and a lead weight dropped into Waverly’s stomach. She blinked back tears.

“You’re wrong.”

“What, don’t tell me you’re one too?” Willa scoffed.

Waverly opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Her heart was beating quickly, so loud it was all she could hear. Her body was tense, and she crossed her arms protectively over her stomach as the first tear fell down her cheek.

Willa’s mouth fell open in surprise. “You _are_.”

“I – I don’t know, okay?” Waverly whispered. “I think, maybe, but I just – I don’t know, okay?”

“Not okay,” Willa said, and it was like a slap in the face.

“Please don’t tell Wynonna,” She whispered, pleading with her sister.

“I won’t,” Willa said, “As long as you convince Haught to withdraw from the competition before Sunday.”

“I won’t do that,” Waverly said.

“Can’t you see I’m trying to do you a favour?” Willa raised her voice, unfolding her arms as she advanced towards Waverly menacingly.

As soon as Waverly took a step back against the wall, Peacemaker was there, shouldering his way between them. He laid his ears flat back against his head as he bared his teeth and snapped millimetres away from Willa’s face. She shrieked and retreated to the door of the stable.

“That beast is dangerous,” Willa said, as Peacemaker glared at her from in front of Waverly. The grey took one step towards her, tossing his head defiantly, and Willa bolted from the stall, slamming the door shut on her way out.

Waverly let out a breath and dissolved into sobs, covering her mouth with her hands and sliding down the wall until she was crumpled on the ground. Peacemaker’s entire demeanour changed; he turned his head to Waverly and stretched his neck out cautiously to her, gently resting his nose on the top of her head. Waverly reached up with one hand and rested it on his forehead, the tears streaming freely down her face.

*****

She didn’t know how long she stayed there, crying herself out with Peacemaker standing guard. After she had regained control of herself, she looked up at the horse towering above her.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice hoarse.

Peacemaker snorted softly at her, and allowed Waverly to wrap her arms around the crest of his neck. He raised his head, pulling Waverly to her feet, and she kept her arms where they were, burying her face in the side of his neck and inhaling deeply.

It hit her then that she had, in a way, come out to someone. A pity it had been Willa.

She hadn’t lied though. She could have denied it and said that there was no way she was anything but straight. But she knew that wasn’t true. It wasn’t something she had given too much thought to; she was so focused on competing and trying to reconnect with Wynonna that she hadn’t really had time to date, and the boys that she had dated had never stuck around too long once they saw how committed she was to the sport. Nobody liked playing second fiddle to a horse. But she knew deep down that she had always noticed women, maybe more than most girls did.

She hadn’t realised it at the time, but her whole way of thinking had been changed when she met Nicole. The butterflies in her stomach, which she had largely attributed to competitive nerves, were something else entirely, and it scared her. Not because Nicole was a woman, but because she’d never felt that way about another person before. Nicole was her friend, and a good one at that, and she didn’t want to lose that friendship, no matter how gorgeous Nicole was, and how sweet, and how her smile made Waverly’s heart feel like it was going to burst out of her chest.

She couldn’t do this. She absolutely couldn’t do this.

Especially now, with Willa’s threat hanging over her. Part of her wanted to tell Wynonna herself, take the power from Willa, but she was scared. Scared that Wynonna would reject her just as her other sister had done. And there was no way she was going to sabotage Nicole, no matter what Willa said or did.

 _I have until Sunday to figure something out_ , she reminded herself, and some of the weight lifted from her. She stepped back from Peacemaker and managed a smile. “Good boy,” she told him, and left his stable, her feet taking her along the familiar path to the main arena, where the second day of Dressage would be getting underway.

There was one thing she knew for sure, and that was that she absolutely could not allow herself to like Nicole as anything more than a friend.

*****

That turned out to be trickier than she anticipated.

She found a seat way up at the back of the grandstand, watching rider after rider perform the set routine of the Dressage test. There were a few big name riders that surprisingly didn’t rank higher than her, and that encouraged her to smile at the realisation that she was keeping up with the pack at her first year at Badminton.

Of course, there were also a few competitors who scored better than she had yesterday, and pushed her steadily down the leaderboard, but she had expected that. She was just glad that Willa wasn’t in the lead either.

By the time Nicole was due in the arena, the leaderboard was looking pretty tight, with seven riders sitting on a sub-forty score. The current leader had scored 35.9, which was less than five penalties ahead of Waverly’s own score, and Willa had achieved a score of 38.4 penalties, which Waverly hoped she would be able to make up over the next two phases of the competition.

She felt her breath catch in her throat as Nicole rode into the arena. Annie appeared to float across the grass, and Nicole sat in perfect balance on the mare’s back, looking the most elegant Waverly had ever seen her. It was hard to match this Nicole to the image she usually had in her head of the other woman sprawled on the lorry couch after a hard day’s work, or rising with the sun and pulling on her favourite hoodie the morning of a competition, not even bothering to brush her hair before she was on her way to the stables.

Waverly watched as Nicole rode what was arguably the best test she’d ever seen her do. She seemed to have a direct link to Annie’s brain, and the horse responded beautifully to the most miniscule aids from her rider. It was almost as if she was dancing across the arena, and Waverly was enraptured.

The stands were fairly packed by this point, and she could hear a pin drop as Nicole rode up the centreline of the arena before halting and saluting the judges, and then the crowd exploded. Cheers and whistles accompanied the frenzied clapping as Nicole beamed and walked Annie towards the exit, waving at the crowd as she went.

Waverly swore she saw a young woman at the front almost pass out when Nicole smiled at her, dimples on full display. She knew the feeling.

“That was Canada’s Nicole Haught and Annie Oakley,” the commentator’s voice boomed over the speakers. “Here comes the score… and it takes her into first place! 34.1 penalties, a very good score even at this, the highest tier of competition.”

Waverly grinned as she saw Jeremy practically jump on Nicole as soon as she was off the horse. He backed off quickly, taking Annie’s reins as they made their way out of sight, presumably back to the stable block. She let them go. If she was going to remain on the right side of the boundary with Nicole, a little distance might be a good thing.

After the final competitor had finished, Nicole was still in the lead, meaning she would go into Cross Country with the score to beat. Willa had moved down to sixth, and to her surprise Waverly was in tenth place – a lot higher than she was expecting to be, given the quality of the field.

She chose to get dinner at one of the many eateries by the trade stand area, unwilling to go back to the lorry where Willa might be. She knew she’d have to go back eventually, but for now, she sat with her (probably unhealthy) meal and enjoyed the atmosphere.

*****

Waverly had walked the course a total of three and a half times – the half time had been to get partway through and decide that she was freaking herself out too much – and she still felt nowhere near ready to take it on. She was up early in the morning, psyching herself up for the challenge ahead. It was, without a doubt, the hardest course she had faced, and it didn’t help that even the Badminton regulars that had been competing here for thirty years were wary of some of the obstacles.

At eleven-thirty, the first rider was released onto the course, and Waverly watched on the monitors with several of the other riders to see what the early competitors would make of it. She had already changed into her Cross Country gear; her blue and pink stripes making her easily distinguishable from the majority of the other riders.

By the time Waverly was given a leg-up onto Peacemaker’s back by Chrissy, nobody had even come close to achieving the optimum time. It seemed the control necessary to tackle the more technical obstacles was slowing the riders down more than anticipated.

She warmed Peacemaker up slowly, first on the flat and then over the practice jumps, and was pleased to find him feeling calm and confident, which was more than could be said for her. As rider number twenty-six started her round, Waverly took a deep breath, knowing she had four minutes until her start time. She walked Peacemaker in circles around Chrissy and Wynonna, keeping his muscles warm as she waited.

“Good luck, Waves,” Chrissy gave her a nervous thumbs up, and Wynonna gave Waverly a serious look.

“You’re gonna crush this,” she said, and Waverly felt herself start to believe her.

“Sorry I’m late,” Another voice said, and Waverly twisted her body in the saddle to catch sight of Nicole jogging up to them in track pants and a tank top. “I was taking one last look at the course and lost track of time.”

 _Focus_ , Waverly scolded her treacherous body, forcing a smile at Nicole.

Before she could reply, however, she was being called over by the steward, and she sucked in a nervous breath as she walked Peacemaker over. Nicole went with her, putting a hand lightly on Waverly’s thigh to get her attention.

“Be safe out there,” she said softly, not looking her in the eye. “but try to have fun with it too.”

She left then, taking her place with the others by the screens. Waverly looked at the television camera near the start box, knowing that the day was being broadcasted live to at least the country, and probably streamed to other countries too. The steward gave her a ten second countdown, and Waverly mulled over Nicole’s parting words as she made her way into the start box. If she was going to make her mark and prove that she could handle the pressure, it would have to be go big or go home. She would have to give her all, and that was what she planned to do.

Feeling a wave of confidence suddenly surge through her, Waverly started her stopwatch as the countdown reached ‘one’, and she rose up in her stirrups as Peacemaker launched into a gallop from almost a standstill. In the back of her mind, she heard the crowd cheer as her round begun, but she didn’t allow herself to focus on that as she zeroed in on the first obstacle.

Peacemaker’s ears pricked as he locked onto the jump, and he took it without breaking stride, striding on out of the arena and towards fence number two. It looked big, but it was the sort of fence Waverly was used to jumping, so she had no fear as Peacemaker leapt it easily and was immediately back in his fast rhythm as they made the swinging turn right handed to the new table over the ditch. Again, that jumped easily, as did the hay cart at fence four, and Waverly felt her confidence grow as they sped away from that and towards the first combination.

As they approached from the top of the hill, Waverly sat firmly back down in the saddle, applying pressure to the reins to slow Peacemaker down to a canter. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the crowds gathered behind the tapes at the bottom of the slope, already five-people deep.

“Steady,” she told the horse as Peacemaker, keen to gallop, fought for his head.

He popped the rail nicely, then Waverly sat strong to avoid being pitched forwards as he hesitated at the top of the steps. She tapped his sides with her heels and he jumped down both steps boldly. As they landed, Waverly tightened the reins and looked up and over the top of the brush fence at the bottom. She kicked on for two long strides and Peacemaker understood, taking the last part of the combination with relative ease, and she caught snatches of clapping and a few cheers from the crowd as she patted the horse’s neck as they galloped away to the next jump.

It was always a relief to have the first real test behind you.

The optimum time always in the back of her mind, she decided to take the next fence on the angle to make for a quick getaway, and she turned sharply as soon as Peacemaker landed over the birch table, pressing back into a gallop as she made her way down to the Lake.

Even as they jumped the flatbeds, Waverly was looking at the hanging log drop into the Lake. She didn’t pay attention to the huge amount of people there, just waiting for someone to fall in. Determined that it wasn’t going to be her, she clicked her tongue at the horse on the last stride and sat defensively in the saddle. She needn’t have worried, as Peacemaker picked his knees up and made a neat, if slightly big, jump down into the water. She leaned back on the descent and slipped the reins to give the horse his head, gathering them up once they had landed and looking to the step out. She counted the strides they took in the water, then smiled as Peacemaker understood the question, jumping up the step and putting in two short strides before brushing through the top of the gorse on the last part of the combination.

“Good boy!” She praised, patting the horse’s neck as the crowd responded to the effort, cheering them on their way to the next, significantly easier, jump.

After they had cleared fence nine, Waverly glanced at her stopwatch, pleased to see that they were ahead of the pace. She took a pull as they approached the corner fences at the hollow, making sure Peacemaker was balanced and that she was fully in control. Peacemaker jumped the first corner well, but Waverly waited a fraction later than she should’ve to turn to the second element, meaning they approached at an odd angle. Like the superstar he was, Peacemaker jumped the fence anyway, kicking the flag out with his hind legs, but Waverly knew that didn’t matter. So long as the horse’s neck and shoulders went between the flags, she was penalty-free.

She grimaced as she sped away from that fence. She would have to be way more accurate if she wanted to keep a clear round. The next fence was the footbridge angled over the gaping ditch, and Waverly saw a long stride, riding hard for it. Peacemaker lengthened his stride and soared over the huge fence, and Waverly couldn’t help but let out a whoop as they cleared it. It felt an awful lot like flying.

She hastily gathered her thoughts as they approached the next obstacle; she couldn’t afford to get carried away and careless, especially since the bank loomed menacingly over her. From here, the fence on the top seemed impossible, but Peacemaker made the effort to jump up the four-foot step and immediately bounced over the fence that followed before running down the slope on the other side. Waverly waited until they had jumped the trakhener at fence fourteen to pat him, reassuring him that he was doing an incredible job so far.

The second of the water complexes was the approximate halfway mark, and Waverly checked her watch to see that they’d been galloping non-stop for over five minutes now, and were still on target to make the optimum time. She approached the first log boldly, pushing for three strides to the second log as they descended the slope into the water. Peacemaker stood off the fence and his back hooves scraped the bark as he landed short, killing their momentum. Waverly looked up the slope to the last log and knew there was no way she’d be able to do it from there. Making a split-second decision, she pulled hard on the left rein instead, shouting “long” to the fence judges to let them know she wasn’t presenting at the final element and was instead taking the alternative route.

She circled two hundred and seventy degrees, cantering back down the slope and jumping a different ‘c’ element into the water, before turning back on herself once again and giving Peacemaker his head as she galloped on. She tried to calm her racing heart; that mistake of pushing for three strides and having to take an alternative route had cost her valuable time, but at least it hadn’t added any jumping penalties to her score.

The next fence was a simple let-up obstacle that Waverly didn’t even check Peacemaker’s stride for, trusting the horse to take it from a gallop as she chased the clock. At the next fence, she was forced to slow her pace, as there was once again a pretty sizeable drop into water. As she landed, she pointed Peacemaker towards the brush fence on the way out, daring him to jump it on the angle, and he responded beautifully, locking onto the fence and putting in a good leap.

Waverly gasped as her lungs burned. She hadn’t even realised she had been holding her breath at that last fence. Encouraging her horse all the while, she kicked on to the next fence, a big spread that they negotiated without a second thought.

She was forced to take another hard pull on the approach to the next fence, as they were very upright rails that she couldn’t let him go flat over. She heard his back feet clang the first rail, but the pins held firm, and she focused with grim determination on the angled second element, almost using the reins to pick his front end up over it, begging him to make a cleaner effort.

He obliged, and Waverly felt another wave of relief as she was able to put that combination behind her. It was terrifying, but for the first time since the round had begun, she was starting to relish and enjoy the ride. There was another long gallop to the next fence, and she could hear Peacemaker breathing hard. He was extremely fit, but he had still been travelling at almost full throttle for several minutes. Peacemaker sailed over the table, and they continued onwards to fence twenty-one, a three-part brush combination of a big oxer, followed by two huge corner fences.

Peacemaker jumped the first element with ease, and Waverly turned him left to tackle the two corners, pushing him forward as he leapt the first corner. She rode hard for the long two strides, and prayed the horse would take off. Thankfully, Peacemaker was on the same page as her, and put in a colossal effort to jump the final element.

“Well done,” she rasped, her breath coming short after her efforts to control the animal beneath her. The bullfinch was next, and Waverly knew before he took off that the horse was too tired to try and jump clean over the two-metre brush, cutting through the middle of it like he was supposed to before freewheeling downhill to the next jump. His neck was lathered with sweat as he drew huge lungfuls of air with each breath, and Waverly knew she too had soaked her base layer with sweat throughout the course. She checked her stopwatch and saw that they were a few seconds off the pace of the optimum time, but she knew there was only so hard she could push the horse without risking a stupid mistake.

There was a long gallop to the next fence where she let the horse coast along and catch his breath, and she was pleased to find that Peacemaker had gotten his second wind as they approached the two fences in the wooded area of Huntsman’s Close, another hotspot for spectators. The test here was easier than it had been in previous years; something Waverly was extremely grateful for as they put yet another obstacle behind them. She pressed on, knowing they weren’t that far from home.

Peacemaker seemed to realise they were headed in the direction of the finish flags too, and Waverly struggled to steady him as they approached two very upright gates. Despite his protests, the horse came back to a canter and made a neat job of the gates, surging forwards into his gallop as soon as he landed over the second one.

The muscles in Waverly’s arms ached as she approached the Quarry, guiding Peacemaker over the best ground as they jumped the wide fence in and the narrow brush at the bottom of the Quarry. They then faced the bank on the way out, and Peacemaker pushed hard up the slope before jumping the stone wall at the top.

She patted his neck as she stood up again in her stirrups, her legs pretty much jelly by this point. She didn’t want to get ahead of herself, but she was most of the way around Badminton on a clean sheet, and that was something that amazed her. Glancing at her watch, she saw that she had about a minute left to get home, and she encouraged him on down the hill towards the final four fences. It would be touch and go, but if she kept up the pace she could be close to the optimum time.

Peacemaker was one of the smaller horses competing, but Waverly knew he had a huge stride and a heart to match, so she spoke words of praise and encouragement as she felt the horse respond, stretching his stride even further as he sensed the end of the course.

Waverly barely checked him for the two enormous brush oxers on a curving line, hearing nothing but the pounding of her own heart and the thudding of Peacemaker’s hooves on the ground.

“Just me and you, buddy,” she gritted out as they approached the second-to-last fence, an intricately carved log with a drop on the landing side. She risked a glance at her stopwatch as they landed over that fence and saw they had just under twenty seconds to get home. Bowing her head as she crouched low in the saddle, Waverly threw everything she had left in her body towards encouraging the horse on.

Peacemaker responded with a monumental effort, swallowing up the ground as they thundered back into the main arena. As they entered, Waverly heard the roar of the crowd, and it spurred her on as she took the turn to the last fence. She didn’t stop to appreciate the beautifully carved wooden saddles that decorated the jump, as Peacemaker hurdled it like a racehorse and raced for the finish line. Waverly stopped her watch as she crossed the line, not wanting to look yet as she whooped and punched the air in triumph.

Not only had she survived the course, but she had conquered it.

She slowed Peacemaker to a trot and looked up at the scoreboard, gasping for air.

She was only four seconds over the optimum time, by far the closest anyone had gotten until this point. Part of Waverly immediately kicked herself for wasting time at the water jump halfway through the course, but the majority of her brain was in celebration mode.

As she pulled Peacemaker up, the grey gelding puffing with the exertion, she saw Wynonna, Nicole, Jeremy and Chrissy waiting for her. As soon as she reached them, she folded forwards and swung her right leg over the horse’s back, jumping back down to the ground and stumbling into Nicole, who wrapped her arms around Waverly to keep her from falling over.

Wynonna instantly took Peacemaker’s reins as Chrissy unbuckled the breastplate and girth before removing the saddle, and Jeremy slipped the breastplate off over the horse’s head. As they exited the arena to the announcement that first-time competitor Waverly Earp had only 1.6 time penalties to add to her Dressage score, Waverly leaned her head against Nicole’s shoulder, allowing herself to forget her self-imposed boundaries, if only for a moment.

*****

Before long, Wynonna had to leave to attend to Willa and Eve, since they would be starting their round before too long, and Jeremy went to do the final preparations on Annie. This left Waverly with Nicole and Chrissy to see to Peacemaker’s recovery, and the three went about their work in relative silence as they focused on washing the horse and walking him around to keep him from stiffening up. Chrissy tried to get Waverly to sit down, but she flatly refused.

She was still floating on cloud nine, and every time she looked at Nicole that feeling got even stronger. Her hands itched to hold her, so she busied them instead with removing her own helmet and the constricting air vest and body protector. She felt her ribcage finally able to expand fully when she was down to her base layer.

 _Much better_.

Waverly felt a tap on her shoulder, and she turned around to see the BBC presenter Clare Balding giving her a warm smile.

“Would you mind giving us a quick interview?” She asked, gesturing to the cameraman behind her, and Waverly’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Me?” She asked, and Clare nodded. “Yeah, sure, I can definitely do that.”

“So this is your first time riding here at Badminton; how does the course compare to your previous competitions?” She asked.

“Um, Badminton is definitely a lot tougher than anything I’ve attempted before,” Waverly admitted, “but I have complete faith in my horse and he helped me a lot out there today.”

“And what does it mean to be flying the flag for Canada over here in Britain?”

“Everything,” Waverly replied with a genuine smile. “I moved over here with my sisters when I was eighteen, and it’s been amazing to represent my home country at some of the top competitions here.” That sounded like something a professional would say, right?

“You were in tenth after Dressage, and that stellar performance a few moments ago will only take you up the leaderboard,” Clare said. “How are you feeling about the Showjumping phase tomorrow?”

“Well, um, without jinxing it, he’s usually a careful jumper, but the top priority is passing the trot up tomorrow morning,” Waverly said, a nervous laugh escaping.

“Well, we’re all wishing you the best of luck,” Clare smiled.

“Thank you so much,” Waverly said. Clare nodded, and the cameraman stopped recording. Evidently the presenter was told something in her earpiece, as she said goodbye and walked off in search of her next interviewee.

Waverly wanted to laugh. Nobody had ever asked her for an interview before, and it was over before she could even gather her thoughts. She just hoped that she hadn’t sounded like an idiot.

*****

Waverly didn’t really bother paying a lot of attention to Willa’s round, only keeping one eye on the monitors. She was starting to feel the exhaustion of her own round in her bones, and she knew she would be out like a light later that night. So when she saw Willa come back into the arena to face the final fence, she didn’t register her time until she had cleared it and stopped the clock.

Waverly’s two phase score of 41.9 penalties had been the one to beat until now, and she had assumed that Willa would stay in front of her, but to her surprise, she suddenly realised that Willa had clocked up enough time penalties to take her total to 46.4 penalties, having been twenty seconds over the optimum time, which placed her below Waverly on the scoreboard. She was astounded at the fact that she had just leapfrogged Willa in the competition.

And as the afternoon went on, nobody seemed to be able to get ahead of her. There had been riders close to the optimum time, but nobody had beaten it so far, and Waverly’s performance meant she was climbing several places up the leaderboard. She was completely nonplussed, but it was the best kind of confusion.

All too soon, it was Nicole’s turn to face the course, and Waverly restricted herself to a smile and a “good luck”, not wanting to break Nicole’s concentration. She knew Nicole was nervous about the fence at the Lake, and its similarity to the one at Lexington, but she hoped that Nicole would put it to the back of her mind and focus on the task at hand.

When Annie sprang from the start box and the crowd cheered, Waverly sensed that all eyes were on Nicole, being the overnight leader. As Annie cleared fence after fence in the same quick and neat style, Waverly prayed that the pressure wasn’t going to get to them.

Watching the coverage was frustrating, because the picture jumped between the various horses that were out on course, so sometimes Waverly wouldn’t know how Nicole was doing at all, until she could let out a breath when Nicole returned to the screen.

“And now Nicole Haught comes to the Lake,” one of the commentators for the broadcast version was saying, and Waverly saw Annie clear the flatbeds and begin her approach to the drop fence into the water. “She had a bad experience at a similar fence last week at Kentucky, so she’ll be hoping to put that fall behind her now.”

 _Yeah, no shit_ , Waverly rolled her eyes.

She held her breath as she noticed Nicole not really riding positively into the fence, tensing her shoulders, and it was only because Annie was an honest horse that they got over the jump. However, it seemed to be the wake-up call that Nicole needed, because she proceeded to take charge and ride the rest of the Lake complex much better. Waverly breathed a sigh of relief as Nicole was back on dry land for the time being, giving Annie lots of pats as they galloped away out of sight of the camera.

Every time Nicole was onscreen Waverly’s eyes were glued to the monitor, not wanting to miss a second. She needn’t have worried though; after the Lake was behind her, Nicole attacked the course with vigour, and Annie was up for every challenge thrown at her. It really was a foot-perfect round, Waverly mused, as Nicole landed over the second-to-last fence with twenty-five seconds in hand. She could hear the commentators debating whether she was going to make the time, but there was no doubt in Waverly’s mind as she saw Nicole and Annie speed into the arena. The mare’s sides were dripping with sweat, but she hardly seemed to notice as she flew the last fence and Nicole kicked on for the finish line, stopping the clock with one second to spare.

*****

Nicole was interviewed after her round too, as expected, and Waverly watched from behind the camera as Nicole was her usual charming self. It occurred to Waverly that this probably wasn’t her first interview, and she almost envied the easy smile on Nicole’s face.

“We spoke earlier to your fellow Canadian, Waverly Earp,” Clare said after she had asked a few initial questions, and Waverly snapped to attention, surprised to hear her name mentioned. “You’ve both gone really well today; what must be in the water over at your camp?”

Nicole laughed. “Yeah, there must be something,” she said, before she met Waverly’s eyes past the presenter. “In all seriousness, though, Waverly’s a very good friend, so I’m really happy for her today.”

Waverly couldn’t help but melt a little bit at Nicole’s sincerity, and she watched as she finished up the rest of the interview with a bashful grin before thanking Clare as it ended.

“I thought for sure you weren’t going to try and jump the Lake,” Waverly commented once it was just the two of them.

“I was terrified,” Nicole groaned. “It’s only because Annie was so good that we actually jumped that fence.”

“But you did jump it,” Waverly reminded her. “And that might help you move on from what happened at Lexington.”

“Hopefully,” Nicole said. “I meant what I said, though. I’m really happy your round went so well.”

“I feel the same way,” Waverly said, nudging Nicole with her shoulder. “Even if it did mean you knocked me off the top of the leaderboard.”

“How about I buy you dinner as an apology?” Nicole suggested, and Waverly was torn. Part of her remembered her self-imposed ‘boundaries’, and not wanting to let herself get too close, and Willa’s threat still hanging over her head. But she’d had a long day, and she was still on a high from her Cross Country round, and Nicole looked like she was going to bring out the puppy eyes at any second which Waverly really couldn’t deal with right now.

“Okay,” she agreed. “Just pick somewhere that won’t give us food poisoning, or there’ll be trouble.”

*****

To Waverly’s surprise, they actually got recognised a few times by members of the public between then and the start of the Showjumping. It was an odd feeling, having a stranger come up to you and offer their congratulations or even ask your advice on something related to Eventing, but it was actually kind of nice.

So far Waverly had had great conversations with a girl who looked to be about her own age, an elderly couple who wanted advice on getting started in the sport for their grandson, and a brother and sister who couldn’t have been more than ten years old, half-hiding behind their mother as they shyly asked for her autograph. Astounded, Waverly had complied, watching the family walk away and shaking her head in disbelief at the fact that someone had wanted _her_ autograph.

Peacemaker passed the trot up, as did Eve and Annie, which was a huge relief, and meant Waverly could focus on her upcoming Showjumping round and the fact that she was currently in third place behind Nicole and one of the top German riders who had ridden late in the afternoon the day before. Well, she tried to focus on it, but the situation with Willa weighed on her heavily as she watched the morning session comprised of the remaining competitors who hadn’t been so fortunate on the Cross Country course.

Convincing Nicole to withdraw was out of the question, for obvious reasons, and she knew Willa would make good on her promise and out her to Wynonna. She could always deny it, but honestly Waverly didn’t want to give Willa the satisfaction of seeming ashamed. She wasn’t ashamed, of course, but she was unsure – of herself, and of Wynonna’s reaction.

After thinking about it for far too long, Waverly decided she should just get it over with and come out to Wynonna. Not only would it be a weight off her shoulders, but by doing it, she was taking away Willa’s leverage. Wringing her hands, she went to Eve’s stable, where Wynonna was – thankfully alone – tacking the mare up ready for the final phase of the competition.

Waverly was already dressed in her riding clothes, minus the hat, and she smoothed down the front of her red Showjumping jacket before clearing her throat to get Wynonna’s attention.

“Hey babygirl,” Wynonna greeted. “Looking snazzy as always.”

“I need to talk to you about something,” Waverly blurted, and Wynonna looked at her in concern.

“Are you okay? Did someone hurt you?” She opened the door to Eve’s stable and stood outside with Waverly, putting a hand on her arm.

Biting back Willa’s name, Waverly decided to just leave her out of it entirely. “It’s nothing bad. I hope, anyway. It’s just, um…”

“Hey, you’re scaring me,” Wynonna joked weakly. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”

“I like girls,” Waverly said, eyes widening in surprise at the fact that she’d actually said it out loud. “I think I’m gay. Well, I don’t really know, but the girls part. I’m sure about that.”

Wynonna looked at her for a second. She looked surprised, but Waverly didn’t see any of the disgust that she’d seen on Willa’s face as she realised. She opened her arms for a hug, and Waverly sank into it, holding her sister tightly.

“Remember what I said to you a few days ago?” Wynonna murmured. “That I’m proud of you, no matter what. That hasn’t changed, okay?”

Waverly couldn’t help the tears that sprang to her eyes, and that all the breath left her lungs in one huge exhale. “Thank you,” she whispered, and Wynonna pulled back slightly, pressing her lips to Waverly’s forehead.

“Thank you for telling me,” she said. It was a rare sincere moment, and Waverly didn’t want it to end. But she remembered she still had a job to do, one more round of jumps that stood between her and a top three finish at Badminton. But for one more second, she allowed herself to just exist with her sister in a bubble, where nobody could get to her.

*****

Waiting for her turn in the arena, Waverly’s nerves returned in full force. A lot of combinations were either jumping clear or having very few penalties, and she knew she’d have to keep a clean sheet if she wanted to retain her position. Willa had jumped clear to secure seventh place at worst, and by the time the rider in fourth place finished his round, it became apparent that there wasn’t even room for a time penalty.

She cantered purposefully into the arena on Peacemaker, letting him take it all in; the brightly coloured jumps, the cameras, the packed grandstand. She slowed to a halt to salute, and heard her starting bell ring out in acknowledgement. Knowing she now had forty-five seconds in which to begin her round, Waverly urged Peacemaker back into a powerful canter, circling around to the first fence.

She let out a steadying breath as she approached, very conscious that this round would be important. Peacemaker seemed to realise it too, as he picked his feet up carefully to clear the fence with room to spare. Waverly’s smile grew throughout the course as it became apparent that her horse didn’t plan to touch a single jump. The time limit was always in the back of her mind, and she moved on inbetween fences to save a few seconds. There was a tricky line near the end of the course, where the distance walked a short five strides, and she really had to collect Peacemaker to make it happen, but that was soon behind them. In what felt like no time at all, she was staring down the final line of fences.

First, the triple combination. One jump, then one stride to the second, and two strides to the last part. Peacemaker jumped them like they were a schooling exercise, and Waverly approached the last oxer fence, her heart in her mouth. Peacemaker jumped from a bit too far back, and she could feel the crowd’s tension, but she needn’t have worried as her horse landed safely and passed through the finish with a few seconds to spare.

She put a hand to her mouth as she took in the applause, and the commentator’s words. “A wonderful clear round for this young talent, and with that Waverly Earp and Peacemaker guarantee themselves at least third place!” She couldn’t believe it. Her first year at Badminton, and Peacemaker had jumped a double clear round.

She cantered out of the arena to find Wynonna and Chrissy waiting. She leapt from her horse’s back and straight into their arms, savouring the group hug. When they broke apart, Chrissy took Peacemaker’s reins and started to walk him, cooling his muscles down after the strain of the past several days. Waverly unclipped her hat and removed it, smoothing her hair back and standing arm in arm with Wynonna at the gate to the arena as the German rider began his round.

Waverly glanced over her shoulder to see Nicole jump a practice fence in the warm up arena, making sure Annie was ready for the challenge. Waverly knew Annie very rarely had a fence down in the Showjumping, but she also knew that Nicole wouldn’t be taking any chances. The crowd gasped, and Waverly saw one of the wooden poles rock back and forth in the cups from where it had been tapped, but it didn’t fall. Soon after, the German was riding through the finish flags with a clear round.

“Sorry Waves,” Wynonna said, and Waverly shrugged.

“It’s not like I expected to win,” she reasoned. “I’m okay.”

Nicole made her way over to the gate into the arena then, and she and Wynonna both wished her luck before she made her way into the arena.

“And now, the overnight leader Nicole Haught,” the commentator’s voice was hushed as Nicole saluted and the bell rang out. “She rides Annie Oakley, and they are still on their Dressage score of 34.1 penalties, which means they can have one fence down and still win, but no more than that.”

Waverly crossed her fingers as Nicole approached the first fence. The mare jumped it well, but Waverly could see that the Cross Country had really taken it out of her, and she looked a bit less controlled than usual. Still, despite Nicole having a tough ride, they cleared fence after fence. Nicole turned to the last line of jumps, and Waverly knew this would be tricky for her.

Annie cleared the first part of the triple, then the second. She found the two strides to the third part quite short, and Waverly wanted to shut her eyes as she saw the horse roll the top pole of the second-to-last fence. It fell to the ground, and the tension ramped up even higher. She would have to clear the last.

Waverly could hardly watch, but she forced herself to as Nicole approached the final fence. This time she found the perfect take-off spot, and Annie put in a big jump to make up for the previous fence. They cleared it and as soon as Annie’s hooved touched down, the audience erupted into cheers and applause. She’d done it.

Nicole let Annie do a victory lap of the arena, a huge smile splitting her face, before slowing her horse down so she could exit without wiping anyone out. Out of the corner of her eye, Waverly could see Clare and her camera crew waiting, but she didn’t care as she joined Jeremy in intercepting the horse as she came out of the arena. She only had eyes for the woman up on top of the horse.

She reached them just as Nicole jumped down from Annie, and as she turned around, Waverly made a running jump and leapt into Nicole’s arms to hug her, wrapping her legs around Nicole’s waist as she stumbled back from the impact, somehow managing to stay on her feet with Waverly clinging onto her. She wound her arms around Waverly’s back to support her, and Waverly could hear her laughing.

“You did it, you won!” Waverly practically shouted into her ear, and she knew in that moment that she could self-impose all the boundaries in the world and it wouldn’t do any good. There was no point even trying to deny it to herself.

She had a serious crush on Nicole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: competing takes a back seat and makes way for a wayhaught movie night, a phone call, and a birth - not necessarily in that order.
> 
> Validation is how I survive, love you all!
> 
> Also, fun fact: Clare Balding is a real BBC presenter who does interviews and coverage at Badminton. She's also hella gay, so that was pretty much my reasoning for including her.


	4. Barbury

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been over a week, but I was really busy, and then I was at EarperCon, and then I was back at University, so this got written in several small bursts whenever I had time! Competitions took a back seat in this chapter, as I was hoping to bring some more development to some of the relationships between the characters. Also, the competitions are going to be a big part of the final chapter, so I wanted to give the characters a breather.
> 
> Again, a huge thank you to everyone who has read/left kudos/bookmarked/commented - you guys are most of the reason I've continued writing this crazily specific au!

_‘London Olympics: The Ones To Watch!_

_No doubt the selectors have an extremely tough job choosing which four riders – plus one reserve – will represent Team Canada in Eventing at the upcoming Olympic Games, which get underway at the end of July. The shortlist has been released to the public, containing familiar names like Doc Holliday, Xavier Dolls and Genie Lucado. However, there are some new names to add to that shortlist who haven’t been part of the Olympic Team before, such as Mercedes Gardner, Shae Pressman, Nicole Haught and sister duo Willa and Waverly Earp._

_Of these newcomers, Haught (who competed as an Individual four years ago) and both Earp sisters placed in the top ten at last month’s Badminton Horse Trials in England, with Nicole taking the win and younger of the Earp sisters Waverly in third. At just 21 years of age, Waverly Earp is the youngest athlete on this shortlist, but she definitely shouldn’t be discounted because of her age. She’s been a part of Young Rider squads in the past and with top three placings in her last two four star competitions, she’s definitely a name to watch._

_A chef d’equipe (team trainer) has not yet been named, but whoever they are, one thing’s for sure: They’re going to have a very talented team to train!’_

Waverly squealed as she read through the article again, just to make sure she wasn’t imagining the special mention her name had gotten. The online buzz that she had seen the very beginnings of after Lexington – almost two months ago – had only grown following Badminton and the announcement of the shortlist. Her follower count on Twitter had skyrocketed (well, as much as it could for a rider, anyway), and her Instagram account which, by all means, was mostly pictures of her training with the horses, was filled with comments like ‘ _omg goals’_ , ‘ _r u going to the olympics???_ ’ and ‘ _is a horse kinda like a giant dog or smth’_ , which proved that even non-equestrian people were actually interested in what she was doing.

Waverly had also seen multiple gifs of herself smiling during her Badminton interview, underneath captions that were just straight-up keysmashing, as well as gifs of her flinging herself at Nicole after she had won. There were more ‘shipping’ comments which she still didn’t really understand, but nobody was too aggressive about it, so she didn’t really mind. The gist of it seemed to be that they thought she and Nicole were cute together, and Waverly had long since given up trying to deny her feelings for Nicole, so it wasn’t as if these strangers on the internet were altogether wrong.

Now that she was consciously aware of how much she liked Nicole, Waverly was finding it increasingly harder to be around her without just grabbing her arm and pulling her into a kiss if Nicole so much as smiled at her. It was really frustrating. Part of her wondered if Nicole liked her back; Chrissy seemed to have hinted at it a couple of times (hindsight was a wonderful thing, Waverly had realised), but that part of her was drowned out by her fears that Nicole didn’t like her in that way, or even if she did but didn’t want a relationship to get in the way of her competing. So Waverly resigned herself to pining after Nicole, at least until she was able to get over her crush.

Besides, with the recent shortlist that had come out, Waverly had to focus on her own and Peacemaker’s training as much as possible. Making a move on Nicole would only complicate that, and the Olympics had been a dream for as long as she had been competing. She couldn’t afford to let anything jeopardise that.

Peacemaker had enjoyed a couple of weeks of rest after his performance at Badminton, just to let any minor kinks work themselves out in the field, before coming back into training work with lots of energy, which meant their training sessions sometimes went on for nearly two hours. Waverly was also finally back riding her younger horse Pikachu, preparing him for his first two star competition near the beginning of July. With any luck, in a couple of years he would be joining Peacemaker at the top level. Waverly believed he had the makings of a superstar, despite Willa’s very vocal doubts.

Willa had been oddly indifferent to Waverly lately, which was a step up from outright cruel, at least. She still hadn’t apologised for the threats she had made, of course, but her failed plan of outing Waverly seemed to have taken the wind out of her sails for the time being, although Waverly had to wonder how long it would last. Chrissy had, unsurprisingly, taken her coming out extremely well, and had insisted on being Waverly’s ‘wingwoman’ even though Waverly had protested that she didn’t have time to date. The only person she had yet to come out to, apart from Jeremy, was Nicole herself.

Realising she was still staring at the article on her phone, she put it in her pocket and took Pikachu’s saddle back to the tack room. They had just finished up a jumping practice session, and Waverly lifted the bottom of her shirt up to wipe away the sweat on her face. Not only was the late June evening sunshine particularly bright today, but Pikachu could be quite the uncontrollable ball of energy when he wanted to be, so trying to harness that energy was taxing work.

Before she left the barn, Waverly made a stop at Meera’s stable. Meera was a big dark bay (almost black) mare, and was currently heavily pregnant with her second foal. The first had been born two years ago; the colt in the stable opposite his mother’s that the Earps hoped would make another fine competition horse. Even though the mare’s due date wasn’t for at least another week, she had been showing signs of speeding things up in the past few days, so Waverly knew that the birth could well be sooner.

She stroked down Meera’s face, watching as the horse sighed in contentment. “It must be really uncomfortable,” she cooed. “But the little one will be here soon enough.” She checked the foaling alarm was secure; a surtingale wrapped over her back and under her belly, connected via a leather strap to a small unit that rested just in front of her chest. If Meera went into labour, the unit would be triggered by the sweating and send a signal to the receiver in the farmhouse, which would emit a high-pitched beeping and alert Waverly to the situation.

She jumped as her phone went off. Rolling her eyes at herself, her heart leapt as she saw Nicole’s contact flash up on her screen. Waverly answered the call.

“Hey, Nicole,” she was going for casual, leaning on the stall door until she realised Nicole couldn’t actually see her being all aloof and disaffected.

“Hi, Waves,” Nicole greeted. “Are we still on for the movie night at your place?”

“Movie night slash foal-watch, yeah,” Waverly laughed. Maybe it was a bad idea to invite Nicole over, but Wynonna was away with Willa and her less experienced horse Bear at a competition, and Chrissy was having a much-needed catch up with her dad while he was in the country. She needed another pair of hands just in case Meera went into labour, so she had asked Nicole for help.

“Okay, cool.” Nicole said. “Jeremy and I have just finished up at the stables, so let me grab a shower and a change of clothes and I’ll be on my way?”

“Sounds perfect,” Waverly smiled. “See you soon.”

“Bye.”

As Waverly ended the call, it became apparent that she was still all sweaty from riding, her clothes had hay all over them, and she smelled very much like horse. Wrinkling her nose, Waverly decided that a shower might be a really good idea.

*****

By the time Nicole arrived at the front door of the farmhouse at nine in the evening, weighed down under the armfuls of snacks she was carrying, Waverly had washed and changed into her softest t-shirt and a pair of leggings, not quite wanting to go full ‘sweatpants mode’. She’d also made a large bowl of microwave popcorn and set it on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

“I didn’t know what snacks you wanted, so…” Nicole trailed off as Waverly opened the door.

“So you brought all of them.” Waverly laughed, and Nicole shrugged sheepishly. “Do you want anything to drink?” Waverly asked, taking the pile of snacks and dumping them in the middle of the couch, blankets and cushions all ready and the television on. Nicole took her usual hoodie off and dropped it onto the arm of the couch, having left her unworn coat by the door.

“Just water’s fine, thanks,” she said. Waverly made her way into the kitchen, taking out two glasses from the cupboard.

“Pick any movie you want, by the way,” Waverly said as she filled the glasses with water, “I’m afraid we don’t have a lot to choose from.”

“Luckily for you, I’m not picky,” Nicole joked, and Waverly rolled her eyes as she brought the glasses of water into the living room and set them down on the table.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m the luckiest,” she joked. “Just pick the damn movie.”

Nicole shot her a playful scowl over her shoulder as she bent over to examine the collection of DVDs by the TV. As she sat down on the sofa, Waverly’s eyes drifted to Nicole’s ass before she could stop herself. She mentally scolded herself, remembering that pursuing Nicole was absolutely a thing she should not do.

 _Why don’t you stop blatantly checking her out then?_ Her brain taunted.

“Okay, _Harry Potter_ could be good, but we’d need to start at the beginning and I’m not sure you’re ready for what an eight movie marathon with Nicole Haught is like,” Nicole commented, and Waverly snorted. “There’s some musicals, some action films…” Her voice trailed off as she picked up another DVD.

“What”? Waverly asked, finally tearing her gaze away from Nicole’s ass.

Nicole looked back over her shoulder, holding up the DVD case, and Waverly’s mouth went dry. “You have _Imagine Me and You_?”

Ah, yes, _Imagine Me and You_ , one of the most famous lesbian films ever made. That was a movie Waverly owned. In her defence, Wynonna had bought it to ‘show her support’.

 _Shit_.

“Um, yeah, I guess I do,” Waverly said with a nervous smile. “Do you want to watch it?”

“Only if you do,” Nicole said. “It’s one of my old favourites, though.”

“Yeah, why not?” Waverly said. “Let’s start with that one.”

Nicole loaded it into the DVD player, and sat next to Waverly on the couch, the huge pile of snacks inbetween them. Waverly seized a handful of popcorn, not noticing Nicole taking a picture of her until it was too late.

Her head snapped to look at Nicole, who was laughing as she brought up the Instagram app on her phone and started typing. Before long, Waverly’s phone lit up with a notification.

‘ _nicole_haught tagged you in a photo_ ’

Opening the notification, Waverly was a little mortified to see a picture of herself shovelling a handful of popcorn into her mouth. She scanned the caption, and felt a blush rising to her face.

‘ _foal-watch is always better with movies, snacks, and the best company #healthydietwho #shesasnacktooamirite #imaginemeandyou_ ’

“I hate you,” Waverly said weakly, double-tapping the picture to like it anyway.

“No, you don’t,” Nicole grinned at her from behind where she had tucked her knees up on the couch, and Waverly couldn’t help the smile the sight brought to her face.

“No, I don’t,” Waverly agreed softly.

*****

As they were nearing the end of the movie, Waverly found herself paying less attention to it and more to Nicole. She couldn’t stop sneaking glances at the woman beside her, who herself was engrossed in what was happening on the screen. She sneakily took out her phone and snapped a candid shot of Nicole, deciding to update her own Instagram.

Nicole was distracted from the movie by her phone lighting up, and she frowned confusedly at the notification. Hiding a snigger behind her hand, Waverly waited for Nicole to read the caption.

“’I bet you she knows every word by heart’,” Nicole quoted aloud. “’hashtag imagine me and you, hashtag such a sap, hashtag hasn’t blinked in twenty minutes’. Okay, that last part’s not true.”

“But you’re not denying the rest of it,” Waverly raised her eyebrows.

“You’re very sneaky,” Nicole commented.

“Turnabout is fair play,” Waverly defended with a winning smile.

She realised five minutes later that maybe posting a picture of Nicole might not have been the best idea, as she was soon flooded with likes and comments. She read a few of them:

‘ _why are they like this_ ’

‘ _imagine me and you more like harooold…_ ’

‘ _ASDFGHJKL CAN TEHY N OT LMAOOO_ ’

‘ _date_ ’

She decided that was enough reading for one night. Switching her phone off, she turned to Nicole.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about the shortlist,” she said. “How much do you know about the others?”

“About most of them, not that much,” Nicole admitted. “I met Doc, Dolls and Lucado four years ago at the last Olympics; Lucado wasn’t very nice but the other two were fine. I’ve never met Mercedes but I hear she’s a ‘fun bitch’,” she made the air quotes with her fingers.

“What about the other woman? Shae Pressman,” Waverly continued, and Nicole sucked in a breath.

“You could say I know more about her,” Nicole said. “She’s my ex-girlfriend.”

“Oh,” Was all Waverly could say, feeling the stirrings of jealousy in her gut, even though she knew it was completely irrational.

“Yeah, we met at a competition, dated for a while, then things cooled off. We broke up early last year.” Nicole said. “She’s a great person and all, but we were both too focused on competing to have a real relationship, you know?”

“Yeah, I get that,” Waverly said. “But if that were to change, would you, y’know, get back with her?”

“No,” Nicole said. “I’m a completely different person now, and I’ll bet she is too. Besides, I’ve moved on.”

Nicole picked at a loose thread on her jeans, eyes darting to meet Waverly’s for a split-second before looking away again.

“Good,” Waverly breathed.

Nicole quirked an eyebrow at her. “Good?”

“That you’re not holding grudges, I mean,” Waverly winced. The save was poor, even by her standards. Thankfully, Nicole accepted it without question. They both turned their attention back to the movie, which was now in its final five or ten minutes, although Waverly couldn’t help but notice they were sitting closer together than they had been at the start.

After _Imagine Me and You_ , Waverly declared it was her turn to pick a movie, and she played safe, choosing _Mulan_ and staying away from anything scary or even remotely sexy. She didn’t think she could be so close to Nicole if anything resembling a sex scene came up. It had definitely been a while, and her body was firmly not co-operating.

The fact that Nicole had the audacity to go around looking all hot and cute and almost ethereal at once was really starting to get to her. Draining the rest of her water, she went to go refill both of their glasses, mentally giving herself a stern talking to. This movie night had quite possibly been both the best and worst idea she had ever had.

They were three-quarters of the way through _Mulan_ when Waverly felt Nicole’s head drop onto her shoulder. She sucked in a breath, feeling Nicole’s hair tickle her neck and wondering how she had become so cursed.

“Sorry,” Nicole said, but she didn’t move. “You’re comfy.”

“Thanks?” It came out as a question, and Nicole huffed out a laugh.

“You’re gonna think I’m lame, but I never stay up past eleven,” she admitted. “I’m usually up before seven, and I value my sleep too much.”

“You can go if you want to,” Waverly said. “I didn’t realise I was keeping you up.”

“No, ‘m good,” Nicole waved a vague thumbs up in front of Waverly’s face. “Jus’ don’t be mad if I fall asleep on you.”

Waverly couldn’t imagine a world where that would ever be the case. She leaned her head a fraction closer to Nicole’s, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. She was almost surprised how comfortable this position was, and before she knew it, she was dozing off herself.

*****

She woke a few of hours later with an ache in one side of her neck. Momentarily confused as to why she was on the couch, Waverly looked over and her heart skipped a beat when she saw Nicole still nestled into her side. Her face was relaxed with sleep, except for her nose scrunching as a loose strand of hair tickled it.

Unable to help herself, Waverly carefully brushed the hair away from Nicole’s face and behind her ear, taking in everything she could about her face. She lightly traced a finger down Nicole’s cheek, revelling in the softness of her skin. The movie had long since finished, and the television screen was shining blue light onto the both of them. Reaching for her phone, Waverly switched it on to see it was nearly two in the morning. She also had a lot more notifications from Instagram.

The light shining from Waverly’s phone caused Nicole to stir. She cracked one eye open, freezing as she registered their position, but she didn’t move.

“Time is it?” She asked, throat scratchy from sleep.

“Almost two,” Waverly whispered back, looking into Nicole’s warm eyes. Nicole stared back, still not fully awake, and her eyes raked across Waverly’s face without restraint.

“Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?” Nicole murmured, and Waverly swallowed hard.

“No. You did say I was a snack, though.” Waverly joked weakly.

Nicole shut her eyes and groaned. “Stupid Instagram,” she said.

She opened her eyes again, and it was like her gaze pierced straight through Waverly. Just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, Nicole’s eyes dropped to her lips for a second, and against her better judgement, Waverly felt herself leaning in. Her blood was rushing in her ears, and she could hear a thin, high sound at the back of her skull…

The foaling alarm.

Her eyes widened, and Nicole must’ve realised at the same time, because her eyes lost the glassy look and sharpened into focus as they leapt back from each other like they’d been electrocuted. Waverly grabbed the closest sweatshirt to her and Nicole picked her coat up as they pulled boots on and bolted for the door. It was freezing outside at night even in the summer in England, and Waverly pulled the soft sweatshirt tightly around her as she shut the front door of the farmhouse behind her, heart still racing at what had maybe almost happened.

For all their hurry to leave the house, they slowed down as they approached the stables. The last thing Meera needed was the two of them panicking. Waverly flipped the light switch on as they entered the barn, seeing the horses blinking rapidly as their eyes adjusted to the sudden influx of light.

“Sorry,” she apologised to them, as she and Nicole made their way over to Meera’s stall. She peered over the door and saw the mare already down on her side, flanks heaving and neck damp with sweat. Either the labour was moving pretty quickly, or she hadn’t tripped the foaling alarm until quite late in the process. Waverly was inclined to go for the second option, as she could see Meera bring her head round to her belly to get a look at the source of her pain.

Unwilling to intervene unless she had to, Waverly watched from outside the stable, briefly checking to see that everything they could need was in a bag adjacent to the stall door. Disinfectant, iodine solution, towels… Waverly counted them off one by one.

“Good girl,” Waverly soothed, as Meera seemed to think about getting back up on her feet before thinking better of it, sinking back down into the straw bed with a huge sigh. Waverly knew that horses would often get up and lay back down again several times during a labour, trying to alleviate the extreme discomfort the contractions would bring. She suddenly felt nervous.

Wynonna and Willa were the more experienced ones when it came to overseeing the births of foals. Waverly had only watched two years ago when Meera had her first foal, and she had only been fourteen when Pikachu was born. Her heart seized as she remembered what had happened to the palomino’s mother; there was no way she would ever forgive herself if something happened to Meera or the foal.

She felt Nicole’s hand on her shoulder, and relaxed a bit. Nicole had some experience with this sort of thing at least, having worked at a stud when she first moved to Britain.

“The calmer you are, the calmer the horse will be,” Nicole said quietly, and Waverly nodded, forcing herself to take a deep breath.

Meera began to take deep, heaving breaths ending in a snort each time. She flopped down completely onto her side with the effort.

“She’s pushing,” Nicole whispered.

“Almost there,” Waverly reassured the horse. She gasped as she saw something start to emerge from under Meera’s tail. “Look.”

“I see it,” Nicole smiled.

Still in the sac, Waverly could just about make out the foal’s front hooves. Foals were born with their long front legs stretched out in front of them and their heads tucked down between them, and Waverly sighed in relief as she recognised the pair of legs as front ones rather than hind ones. It meant the foal was at least being born the right way around.

More and more of the front legs became visible as Meera pushed. It was impossible to even tell the colour of it yet, but before long all would be revealed, and Waverly couldn’t help the excitement and anticipation that joined the nerves as she waited for the head to be born.

A few more moments went by without any progress, and Waverly started to get worried. She felt Nicole tense beside her, and she knew that couldn’t be a good sign.

“I think baby’s a bit stuck,” Nicole said lowly, encouraging Waverly forwards into Meera’s stable. Once inside, Waverly crouched by the mare’s head, reassuring her that everything was going to be okay. Nicole inspected the rear end, and after a second she confirmed her suspicions.

“I can just about see the nose,” she said, “but this foal’s quite big even for Meera so its shoulders are stuck in birth canal.”

“What do we do?” Waverly asked, trying to remain calm.

Nicole rolled her sleeves up with an apologetic look. “We pull, I’m afraid.”

“That won’t hurt the foal, right?” Waverly’s eyes were wide.

“No,” Nicole reassured her, beckoning her over to the horse’s back end. “I’m going to tear the sac open, okay?”

Waverly nodded, and Nicole took a firm grip on the fluid sac, ripping it to free the foal’s front legs.

“Okay, next step is we each grab hold of a front leg,” Nicole instructed, and Waverly was glad at least one of them knew what they were doing. “It’s going to be slippery, and try and grab above the knee.”

Waverly did as she was told, not caring about the relative grossness of what was going on. She took hold of one front leg as Nicole grasped the other.

“Now, when Meera pushes, we pull.”

As if on cue, the mare let out a grunt and pushed hard. Waverly pulled firmly on the foal’s leg, and felt more of the body slip out. She could see the head emerge now, the foal’s eyes closed and its tongue lolling.

“Why isn’t it breathing?” Waverly squeaked.

“It doesn’t have to yet,” Nicole said. “Don’t worry, Waves, it’ll breathe when it’s properly out.”

Deciding to take Nicole’s word for it, Waverly waited until Meera pushed again, and then she pulled back once more on the leg, and finally the foal’s shoulders came free, rushing out all at once as only the hind legs remained unborn. Nicole let go of the foal’s front leg and Waverly did the same, stepping back as Meera was able to do the last bit on her own.

Waverly wanted to cry with relief when she saw the foal’s sides begin to move as it took its first few breaths.

“Welcome, little buddy,” she said, as Nicole exited the stable to get the special purple-coloured spray that would be used between the foal’s back legs to prevent any chance of infection. She did this quickly, Meera’s head jolting up at the hissing sound.

Waverly soothed the mare, dragging the foal around to her side so the mother could see her baby. Meera craned her head around and began to lick her foal clean, just like she was supposed to. Nicole capped the spray can.

“It’s a girl,” she said.

“A girl,” Waverly repeated to the mare. “Now you have one of each.”

The filly was still wet, and so her coat appeared darker than it actually was, but she looked to be the same dark bay colour as her mother, with a thin white stripe down the centre of her face. Waverly already knew she would be a beauty.

She looked across at Nicole, grinning broadly, and received one in return. Gone was the tiredness, giving way to a strange state of hyperawareness that came with something this important. It hit Waverly then that she had helped to bring a new life into the world, and she struggled not to be overcome by emotion at that realisation.

“Vet,” she remembered suddenly. “We should call a vet now, right?”

Nicole nodded, and stepped outside to make the call. In the meantime, Meera had decided she’d had enough of lying down, and with some effort, made it to her feet. Her filly seemed to have no such concerns, laying quietly in the straw and flicking her little tail from side to side. Waverly noticed the membranes that came with the birth hadn’t fully come out yet, but that was normal. She fetched some string from the bag and used it to tie up the membranes, keeping them from trailing on the ground and deciding to let gravity do its thing rather than to force them out and risk hurting the mare.

Presently, they came free, and with the afterbirth passed, Waverly could breathe another sigh of relief. She wrinkled her nose and steeled herself before taking hold of the membranes and dragging them out of the stable. She knew the vet would need to examine them to make sure there was nothing immediately wrong.

Returning to the stable, she saw Meera nosing at her filly, who still hadn’t attempted to get up. Frowning, Waverly supposed she might be taking a few moments before she tried to stand, but something in the pit of her stomach told her they weren’t out of the woods yet.

She went back into the stable, taking one of the towels with her as she went, and crouched down by the foal’s side. Nicole had been outside for a while, and it had probably been getting on for thirty minutes since the birth. Surely the foal should be at least moving around and trying to get up by now.

She ran a hand down the filly’s side and panicked at the lack of heat she found. The foal was shivering slightly, still wet, and so Waverly rubbed at her firmly with the towel to dry her and warm her up. She looked down into the filly’s eye and the baby looked back with a slightly glazed expression. This wasn’t good.

“Nicole!” She shouted, unable to stop her voice breaking. She lowered her voice, addressing the foal. “Come on, birthday girl,” she pleaded. “Get your ass in gear.”

Nicole’s footsteps came hurrying into the barn. “Sorry, it took me ages to get a signal, but the vet’s on his-“ She cut herself off as she took in the situation before her. “Oh no.”

She quickly let herself into the stall with Waverly and the two horses, grabbing the other towel as she went. Waverly tapped the foal’s cheek with two fingers, trying to get her to pay attention as she bundled the now damp towel under her head. Nicole heavily ran her hands up and down the filly’s ribcage, trying to kickstart her heart into a more convincing action.

“Come on,” she growled.

“Don’t you dare die on us,” Waverly pleaded with the foal. “You don’t get to check out. Not for a very very long time!”

When the filly had lost some of the haziness to her expression, Waverly pushed her up onto her chest, encouraging the foal to try and get up. She made a couple of half-hearted attempts before flopping back down onto the straw.

“You lazy thing!” Waverly exclaimed. But their constant harassment seemed to have done some good; the filly no longer looked as though she was actively trying to die, and her eyes were clear and sharp as she took in her surroundings fully for the first time. Meera, who had been watching with a worried expression as Waverly and Nicole worked, now bent her neck down and started to lick her foal again. She appeared to be trying to annoy the foal into action, tongue lashing over her eyes and face as the filly snorted indignantly.

Hoping that the worst was behind them, Waverly turned to Nicole.

“She’s not a morning person, then.”

*****

The vet finally arrived twenty minutes later, and Nicole updated him on the situation as Waverly stayed crouched with the filly, who seemed a bit more present with every passing moment. She still had a towel draped over her side for warmth, and seemed to be quite content staying in bed.

“Hey,” Waverly warned her. “If I can’t be in bed right now, then no-one can.”

The filly glared at her.

“Oh, I can just tell you’re gonna have a temper,” Waverly mused. “Wynonna’s going to love you.”

The vet approached with a needle, ready to give the filly her first shot, and as soon as it pricked her skin, the little devil took great offence to it, flopping like a fish away from the vet. Waverly took this opportunity to pull her front legs out in front of her, encouraging her to push up onto her feet. The vet advanced with the needle again, and clearly this had been all the motivation the filly had needed, because she actually made it onto her feet this time.

“Finally,” Nicole sighed, and Waverly let out a shaky breath as she saw the foal swaying on her too-long legs; she had seemingly surprised herself.

“You’re still getting the injection, though,” Waverly told the filly, hooking an arm around her chest to stop her escaping as the vet was finally able to get the needle in and administer the shot. The filly tossed her delicate head in disapproval, surging forwards as soon as she was released and promptly falling over.

Waverly giggled as the filly scrambled to her feet again.

“Have you decided you’re here to stay, then?” She said, eyeballing the foal with a serious expression. She turned to Nicole and the vet. “What was going on with her earlier?”

The vet scratched his head. “It’s hard to know exactly. There’s nothing wrong with the membranes, so it could’ve been a number of minor things. A weak will, maybe, or she could’ve been exhibiting signs of a dummy foal.”

“Lack of oxygen?” Nicole suggested. “She did get a bit stuck on the way out.”

“It’s definitely possible,” the vet agreed. “Although I wouldn’t say getting stuck would necessarily be the cause if that were the case.”

“Look, she’s starting to feed,” Nicole pointed out, and Waverly turned back around to see the filly find her mother’s teat and latch on, drinking greedily. She breathed a sigh of relief. That was one less thing to worry about.

“I’ll be by around midday to check her again,” the vet said, “but I think you ladies have it under control now.”

Nicole walked him back to his car, getting some last-minute advice, while Waverly stayed in the stable. She stroked Meera’s nose.

“You’re very clever,” she told the mare. “And look at your little beauty. You made that!”

Meera snorted softly, looking as tired as Waverly would expect of a creature who had just had a less-than-straightforward birth, and Waverly marvelled at the durability of these animals. Already within less than two hours, they were both on their feet and the foal was filling her belly with milk.

Nicole returned, letting herself back into the stall quietly and moving to stand beside Waverly. Waverly wrapped an arm around her waist without really thinking about it, leaning her head against Nicole’s clavicle as the other woman’s arm came to rest across her shoulders. They stayed like that for a while, just watching the mother and baby to make sure they would be okay, and the little one was now exhibiting all the normal signs of being perfectly healthy.

After a while, Meera began to glare at them, and Waverly sensed they were being asked to leave so that she could have some private bonding time with her daughter. Waverly carefully removed the foaling alarm, being careful not to tread on where the newborn was now napping in the straw.

They left the barn, leaving the light on just in case they needed to get back up there quickly, and trudged tiredly back to the farmhouse, the exhaustion setting in after the whole ordeal. Waverly opened the front door and turned the lights on, toeing off her boots over the threshold. Nicole hovered in the doorway.

“I can head home now if you’d like,” she said. “Let you get some sleep.”

Waverly shook her head. “Nicole, it’s four in the morning and you’re exhausted. I’m not letting you drive home.”

She pulled Nicole over the threshold and into the house, shutting the door behind her and locking it. “There, now you have to stay.”

“Okay,” Nicole gave her a tired smile.

Waverly took her hand and led her upstairs, too tired to be embarrassed about taking Nicole to her bedroom. She pushed the door open and rummaged in her drawers for some pyjamas, throwing a loose pair of shorts and an oversized shirt that she guessed would fit at Nicole before pulling her own pyjamas out. Nicole left to change in the bathroom, and Waverly quickly shucked off her clothes and pulled the pyjamas on, sighing as the warm fabric made contact with her cold skin. She bent down to pick up her sweatshirt, frowning when she didn’t recognise it. Through the sleepy fog in her brain, she realised it was actually Nicole’s favourite hoodie, and that she must’ve grabbed it in their hurry to get to the stables.

There was a soft knock at the bedroom door.

“You can come in, I’m decent,” Waverly reassured her.

“Just wanted to check,” Nicole said.

“Such a gentlewoman,” Waverly teased, and Nicole’s ears went pink, though that might’ve just been the effect of coming into the warm house from the cold air outside, Waverly thought. “I stole your hoodie.”

“I noticed,” Nicole smiled. “I don’t mind.”

“I’ll wash it,” Waverly promised. “It’s all… icky now.”

“It’s not what’s important,” Nicole shrugged.

Waverly peeled back the covers of her bed and settled into one side. She patted the other side sleepily, sensing Nicole’s hesitation.

“Come on, I promise I don’t bite,” she said, and Nicole bit her lip and shook her head before getting into bed beside her. Waverly’s bed was big enough for them both to be comfortable, but the space between them was still quite small, and Waverly found herself gravitating towards the body heat emanating from Nicole. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you weren’t there.”

“You would’ve been fine,” Nicole reassured her, but Waverly knew she probably wouldn’t have been. Not in time, anyway.

“Still, I’m really glad I wasn’t alone,” she said, giving in and draping an arm across Nicole’s stomach, feeling the muscles there tense at the contact. In the back of her mind, Waverly knew this much touching probably wasn’t a good idea, but she was exhausted physically and mentally, and she had just had to set her alarm for three hours from now, and Nicole was solid and warm and _there_ , so Waverly didn’t give what she was doing too much thought.

“Night, Waverly,” she heard Nicole murmur.

“Night,” Waverly replied. She paused, almost asleep, before whispering: “Also, I think I’m gay.”

*****

What felt like a minute later, Waverly’s alarm went off, loud and obnoxious. She groaned loudly, not wanting to move away from the warmth surrounding her. Her pillow shifted underneath her, and Waverly frowned, cracking open one eye and waiting for the world to swim into focus. When it did, her eyes widened. Her ‘pillow’ was in fact Nicole’s chest, and she glanced up to see her starting to wake.

Backing off to a more respectable distance, Waverly yawned and stretched, reaching over to her bedside table to silence the alarm. For a second, she forgot what had happened last night, then it all came rushing back to her. The foal, the almost-something at two in the morning, the ‘I think I’m gay’…

_Fuck._

That was way too much to process, so she started with the easiest one.

“C’mon,” she poked Nicole, who opened her eyes and scowled at her. “Gotta go check on our new arrival.”

“Comfy,” Nicole protested, but she threw the covers back all the same, getting out of the bed and picking up her pile of clothes from the previous day. She sloped off to the bathroom to get changed, and Waverly quickly dressed in fresh clothes, rubbing the last of the sleep out of her eyes. Even though they hadn’t slept long, there had been something very comfortable and easy and _right_ about cuddling up to Nicole, and Waverly blushed as she remembered how bold she had been in her exhaustion.

Just as she had last night, Nicole tapped on the door again, waiting for Waverly’s permission to come in. When she did, Waverly noticed she was still wearing the same shirt she had slept in.

“My shirt from yesterday was, um, very much not clean,” she said by way of explanation. “My jeans are bad enough from kneeling in the wet straw.”

“Sorry,” Waverly groaned. “I forgot about that.”

“It’s part of the job, right?” Nicole laughed it off. “I’m just glad I could help with the delivery.”

God, she really was kind of perfect, Waverly realised. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she ushered Nicole down the stairs.

“First we check on the foal, then I’ll make you breakfast as a thank you,” she promised. “How does that sound?”

“Perfect.”

*****

The filly was already awake by the time they reached the barn, wobbling around the stable on her spindly legs while Meera watched her closely. The mare watched them approach cautiously, and Waverly tried to soothe her with her voice as they looked over the door of the stall. She took her phone out and snapped a picture, sending it to Wynonna with a text that said: _I helped deliver this little girl last night, what did you do? xxx_

She knew Wynonna would already be awake tending to Bear on the final morning of the competition, and she was mixing feeds for the horse’s breakfasts when she received a reply.

_WHAT THE SHIT_

_BITCH WASN’T DUE FOR ANOTHER WEEK_

Chuckling to herself, Waverly pocketed her phone as she scooped a special mix of feed into Meera’s bucket. The mix was high in fibre and energy, and didn’t contain any pellets like the other horses’ feeds did – just in case the foal ate some, they didn’t want any choking hazards.

Once she was done, she distributed the feeds to the horses, stepping into Meera’s stable and holding the bucket of food in front of her like an offering.

“Nobody’s gonna take her away from you,” she soothed. “We just want to make sure she’s okay.”

Meera seemed to accept this, gobbling the food down as soon as the bucket was placed in front of her. The filly, interested in what was going on, sniffed Waverly’s hand carefully before evidently deciding she was safe and stepping into her space.

“That’s right, remember me?” Waverly whispered, crouching down so she was eye-level with the foal. “She still needs a name,” she said to Nicole, who was hanging over the door watching them with a soft smile.

“So why don’t you pick one?” Nicole suggested.

“Me?”

“You were the only Earp present at the birth,” Nicole reasoned. “I say she’s yours to name.”

Waverly grinned at that, beckoning Nicole into the stable. Nicole sidled in quietly, coming to greet Meera before crouching beside Waverly and letting the foal sniff her hair curiously.

“Feels like it should start with a ‘W’,” Waverly mused, knowing that this foal was well and truly part of the family already.

“Like Willow, or something like that,” Nicole pondered aloud, and Waverly felt a smile begin to creep onto her face.

“Willow,” she breathed. “I like that.”

“I thought I said you should name her,” Nicole laughed.

“But I like your one better than anything I could come up with,” Waverly countered, reaching out a hand to stroke the filly’s neck. “What do you say, Willow? Is that you?”

The foal tugged on a strand of Nicole’s hair with her gums; her teeth wouldn’t come in for a little while. Nicole snorted with laughter. “Somehow, I think she approves.”

Nicole reached up her hands to pet the filly as Waverly stepped back and took another picture; Nicole crouching nose-to-nose with Willow as the foal tried uselessly to chew on her hair. It was already one of her favourite pictures she had ever taken. It had been a difficult birth and a rocky first couple of hours for the little filly, but now that she had decided to fight, it seemed she was here to stay.

*****

As she had promised, Waverly made them both breakfast when they got back to the house. Nicole changed back into the sleep shorts while Waverly put both of their clothes from the previous day through the wash, including the hoodie she had accidentally stolen from Nicole. While they waited for the washing, they lounged around on the couch watching television and chatting. It felt utterly domestic, and Waverly kind of loved it.

She had posted the picture of Nicole and Willow on her Instagram page, and her notifications were already flooded with likes and comments, which was something she was still getting used to. Willow may have only been about five hours old when the photo was taken, but Waverly could already tell she was going to grow up to be strong and athletic, just like her older brother was.

Once their clothes had been washed and dried, and Nicole had changed back into them, Waverly realised that she actually needed to let her go home. She still had a yard to run and horses to train, after all, not to mention a very demanding cat. She walked Nicole to her car.

“I’m taking Pikachu to Barbury Castle next weekend,” she started, twisting the front of her shirt in her hands. “and I was wondering if-“

“I’ll be there,” Nicole said with a wink, and Waverly huffed out an embarrassed laugh.

“I could’ve been asking you to jump off a bridge to put yourself out of team contention,” Waverly said, and Nicole raised an eyebrow at her.

“Were you?”

“No,” Waverly admitted.

“What _were_ you going to ask?” Nicole smirked, and Waverly rolled her eyes.

“If you’d be there with me.”

Nicole smiled indulgently at her. “Sometimes you’re not difficult to predict.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re a genius,” Waverly said, a little embarrassed that Nicole had figured her out that quickly. “Now get going before Calamity Jane scratches up all your furniture.”

She stretched onto her toes and pulled Nicole into a hug, feeling Nicole’s hands resting on the small of her back. “Thanks again for last night,” she said, making a split-second decision and turning her head to press her lips briefly to Nicole’s cheek, feeling rather than hearing her breath catch.

Waverly pulled back and Nicole blinked rapidly, fumbling for the door handle of her car before opening it and getting in, taking off a bit more haphazardly than she usually drove. Waverly’s heart raced as she began to wonder if she had the same effect on Nicole as Nicole had on her.

*****

She was about to get on Pikachu to warm him up for the Cross Country phase at the Barbury Castle international two star Event when she got the call. This being a two-day event, the Showjumping actually came second, on the same day as the Dressage, and Waverly was currently in fourth place. Pikachu still had a long way to go in his Dressage schooling, and it was his first two star, but a clear round in the Showjumping had helped them to climb up the leaderboard.

Nicole was back at the lorry fetching a set of forgotten tendon boots to protect the horse’s front legs when Waverly’s phone rang from Chrissy’s pocket. Chrissy handed her the phone and Waverly took her glove off with her teeth so she could swipe the screen to accept the call.

“Hello?” She said, voice slightly muffled by the glove, which she quickly spat out into her free hand.

“Miss Waverly Earp?” A male voice asked, and Waverly tried to stop the beginnings of a panic. Had something happened to Wynonna, or to the foal? Willow wasn’t even two weeks old yet.

“Yes, that’s me,” Waverly replied.

“This is Levi Waxman, I’m part of the Olympic selection committee,” he said, and Waverly’s mouth dropped open. “I’m very pleased to say that you and Peacemaker have been chosen to represent Team Canada at the upcoming Olympic Games in London.”

“Oh my God,” Waverly replied, “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Levi confirmed. “The news of the team will be released soon, but we wanted you to find out directly from us.”

“I –“ Waverly was lost for words. This was all she had wanted for the past four years. “Thank you! Thank you so much.”

“If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us,” Levi said, “Have a good day, Miss Earp.”

“I will,” Waverly laughed breathlessly, before Levi said his farewells and ended the call. She saw Chrissy looking at her with wide eyes.

“Was that…?”

Waverly nodded, feeling like she was going to burst. “I’m going to the Olympics!”

Chrissy squealed, hugging her tight. Pikachu snorted in alarm, his white tail flicking from side to side as he took in the sight of the two women.

“Sorry, bud,” Waverly said, patting his shoulder reassuringly. “It’s good news, I promise.”

“Waverly!”

Waverly turned in the direction of the voice, and saw Nicole running towards her, phone in one hand and tendon boots in the other. Waverly’s pulse quickened even more as she took in the giddy expression on Nicole’s face, hoping against hope that she had just received a very similar phone call.

“I got the call,” Nicole gasped as she neared where Waverly stood. “I’m on the team this time!”

“Me too!” Waverly replied, and she didn’t think Nicole’s smile could get any wider, but apparently she was wrong about that.

“Oh my God, Waverly, that’s amazing!” She said, reaching them and pulling Waverly into a hug. Waverly clung on, feeling like she was floating on air and not even caring how crazy the two of them probably looked. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been this happy. Not only had she made the freaking _Olympic_ team, but she would be competing alongside Nicole too. She wondered who else had made the team, but for now the majority of her attention was devoted to this precise moment, which she knew she would remember for as long as she lived. Feeling Nicole’s body against her as they hugged, with an ecstatic Chrissy holding onto a perturbed horse, the four of them standing in a field in the middle of England, spectators and other competitors looking on in confusion at the scene.

“Hey, miss Olympics?” Chrissy prodded her shoulder. “You’ve still got a horse to ride, by the way.”

“Right,” Waverly said, pulling back from Nicole and taking a huge breath. Cross Country. She had to try and put the news out of her mind for now and totally focus on Pikachu and their round. “God, I just can’t believe it.”

Chrissy grinned at her. “Ride now, celebrate later. You got this.”

*****

“I’m so fucking proud of you, babygirl,” was Wynonna’s first words to her when Waverly jumped down from the cab of the lorry as it pulled into the Earp yard. Waverly grinned as Wynonna rushed her, squealing as her sister lifted her up and spun her around. Wynonna set her down and pinched her cheeks playfully. “My baby sister, off to the Olympics!”

Waverly rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t deny that Wynonna’s pride made her chest feel like it was going to burst. “I was going to tell you now when we got back, how did you know already?” she asked.

“There’s been an article released,” Wynonna explained, eyes travelling to where Nicole was climbing out of the lorry. “Congrats, Haught-stuff,” she said, hesitating slightly before wrapping her arms around Nicole too. Giving her a quick pat on the back, she withdrew from a very surprised-looking Nicole. Waverly caught Nicole’s eye and shrugged, knowing Nicole was confused by Wynonna’s sudden affection.

“Who else is on this team, then?” Waverly asked.

“Couple of dudes named Dolls and… Holliday, I think.” Wynonna tapped her chin with a finger, and Waverly couldn’t help but notice a name missing from the list.

“Willa…”

“Is the reserve rider,” Wynonna said. “And she’s kinda pissed about it.”

Just then, Willa emerged from the house, heading towards the barn. Seeing the gathering of people, she stopped, and her eyes locked onto Waverly’s. They were icy cold, and Waverly felt a few inches tall as Willa fixed her with the steeliest glare she’d ever been on the receiving end of. Waverly heard movement from behind her, and through her peripheral vision saw Nicole come to stand by her shoulder. Willa sneered at them both, before turning on her heel and marching in the direction of the barn.

“I think ‘kinda pissed’ is an understatement,” Waverly muttered, and Nicole gave her a sympathetic smile.

“Don’t let her take this away from you,” she said.

“Haught’s right, Waves,” Wynonna said. “She’ll get over it.”

Waverly somehow doubted that.

*****

It wasn’t long before there was more exciting news, this time coming from Chrissy.

“You know the other week when I was spending time with my dad?” She said, a few days later in the barn, pausing from where she was mucking out Peacemaker’s stall. Waverly, who had just come in from a Dressage training session with her Olympic horse, jumped down to the ground and turned her attention to her friend.

“You mean the night I had to deliver a foal cause no-one else was here? Yeah, I remember that,” Waverly said, grinning at Chrissy as she ribbed her good-naturedly.

Chrissy rolled her eyes. “You had your knight in shining armour to help you, so don’t act like you were alone.”

“Shut up,” Waverly fought a blush.

“Just saying, I know you like her,” Chrissy shrugged, leaning against her pitchfork as Waverly busied herself with untacking Peacemaker.

“What?” Waverly said, cheeks red. “What makes you think I like her?”

Chrissy groaned. “Come on, Waves, I’m not an idiot. You don’t have to hide things from me, remember?”

Waverly turned to look at Chrissy, who was smiling reassuringly at her.

“Fine,” Waverly admitted. “I like Nicole. Really, _really_ like her. But the timing’s all wrong, what with the Olympics and everything, and what if she doesn’t even like me back? I mean, the amount of ways this could go wrong, and God, that’s the first time I’ve said it out loud – that I have feelings for her.” Waverly’s eyes went wide as she tried to rake a hand through her hair before realising it was tied up.

“It’s gonna be okay,” Chrissy said, leaning her pitchfork against the door of the stable and slinging an arm around Waverly’s shoulders. “I know you both need to focus on training right now, so nothing has to happen. But for what it’s worth, that girl has literal hearts in her eyes when she’s around you.”

“Yeah, right,” Waverly muttered, swiping harshly at a tear that had escaped.

“I’ve been seeing it since that first trip to France,” Chrissy said firmly. “There’s no way she doesn’t like you back.”

Waverly sniffed. “Even if you’re right, I can’t let anything happen. Not until after London, anyway.”

“I know,” Chrissy said, squeezing Waverly’s upper arm comfortingly.

Waverly suddenly realised that Nicole hadn’t been the original topic of conversation. “God, I’m sorry Chrissy, you were saying something about your dad…”

“Oh yeah,” Chrissy seemed to realise. “Well, turns out he was over from Canada because he was being considered for the Chef d’Equipe job, and he got it!”

“That’s amazing!” Waverly congratulated. She knew Chrissy’s dad had coached Eventing teams before, but never one that Waverly had been a part of. She knew he had an excellent track record, though, and Chrissy always said he knew how to get the best out of anyone. “They couldn’t have picked a better man for the job.”

*****

A couple of weeks before the Olympics were due to start, Dolls and Doc arrived with their horses. Nicole had reached out and offered them spare stables at her yard as the horses acclimatised to Britain. Pretty soon, the whole team was gathering for hangouts and group training sessions.

Chrissy’s dad was staying with her, and he oversaw a lot of the training, suggesting exercises and critiquing the performance of each member of the team. Willa continued to sulk, riding with grim determination. Waverly had avoided her as much as possible.

She felt for Willa, she really did. It sucked to be the reserve rider; putting the effort in even when there was a huge chance she wouldn’t be able to compete. But part of her felt a certain amount of satisfaction that it was her who had made the team. Willa had always thought that Waverly wasn’t good enough, wasn’t skilled enough, would never make the team. But here she was, her selection confirmed and about to take part in the biggest event of her life. She couldn’t help but feel ecstatic.

While things with Nicole hadn’t cooled off, per se, they definitely hadn’t progressed – something that Waverly was actually quite relieved about. Nicole could still make her heart race and her breath catch with a single look, but she was more able to distract herself now. The whole team worked closely together, planning tactics and discussing strengths and weaknesses, and while Waverly was always drawn to Nicole, she was learning a lot from Doc and Dolls too.

Doc had been on many an Olympic team, and was one of the most natural horsemen Waverly had ever seen. He turned out to be a kind man, never hesitating to give others a word of advice if they were struggling. Dolls was a bit harder to read, and appeared on the surface to be distant and hyper-focused, but his bantering with Doc and his passion for the team shone through, and Waverly felt herself appreciating his level head and calm demeanour more and more as the date of the Olympic Games drew closer.

Their head grooms, too, fit in pretty seamlessly with the extended family dynamic the team soon built. Doc’s groom Rosita was whip-smart, and knew more about biochemistry and the mechanics of the horses than anybody Waverly had ever met, and she picked up on a niggle Peacemaker had to the side of one of his vertebrae before it became a problem; something that Waverly was immensely grateful for. Eliza was Dolls’ head groom, and she was fun and snarky where Dolls was serious, balancing him out enough that when he was in a bad mood it didn’t last long. She and Wynonna hit it off right away, firing verbal shots at each other back and forth so fast it made Waverly’s head spin.

By the day before they were due to pack up and leave for London, Waverly had felt like she’d known these people for years, and she rejoiced in the feeling. This had certainly never happened with any other team she’d been part of.

She was saying goodbye to the other horses on the yard when she felt a presence behind her, and instinctually knew it was Nicole. That sent a thrill through her, that she had grown so used to Nicole that she didn’t even have to look to know it was her.

“How are you feeling?” Nicole asked her, leaning her crossed arms on the door to Meera and Willow’s stable, watching as the filly strode confidently over to them.

“Nervous, excited, overwhelmed,” Waverly huffed out a laugh. “You name it, I’m feeling it.”

“Me too,” Nicole said, stretching out a hand to Willow as the foal tried to nip at her fingers with her new teeth.

“She likes you,” Waverly noted, nodding towards the filly.

“Well, I have known her since she was born,” Nicole grinned, scratching Willow’s nose affectionately.

“You’re the reason she’s alive,” Waverly commented, remembering the night of the birth all too clearly.

“You can’t know that for sure,” Nicole murmured.

“But I do,” Waverly said simply. “I don’t know how, but I’m sure. If you hadn’t been there that night, Willow wouldn’t be here.”

Nicole turned her head to look at Waverly softly. “I’ll always be there,” she said. “For as long as you’ll have me, anyway.”

Waverly’s words died in her throat as she looked at Nicole, remembering other things about that night. How warm and safe she had felt cuddled up to her that night, how beautiful she had looked in the morning even with messy hair and bags under her eyes, the look on her face and her slightly parted lips as she had moved closer in the dream-like moments before the foaling alarm went off.

“Can you stay forever?” She found herself whispering, eyes searching Nicole’s face for the answer to a different question; one she wasn’t ready to ask.

“I can do that,” Nicole smiled, and Waverly wondered if she had imagined Nicole’s eyes dropping to her lips for a split-second. She was hypnotised, not realising how close they had gotten until Nicole let out a sharp gasp of pain and the spell was broken.

Willow backed up hastily as Nicole pulled her hand away, cradling it in her other hand.

“Little madam bit me,” she laughed breathlessly, swallowing hard as her eyes darted to look at Waverly again.

Waverly felt like she was ridding her ears of water as she took in Nicole’s words. She turned to the filly, who was currently hiding behind the safety of her mother, and sighed.

“Sorry,” She said to Nicole. “We’ve been trying to teach her not to bite.”

“No, it’s my fault,” Nicole blushed. “I wasn’t exactly paying attention.”

“Let me see,” Waverly said, taking Nicole’s injured hand between her own and peering at it. “Skin’s not broken.”

“I’ll live,” Nicole commented slyly, though the effect she was going for was somewhat ruined by how out of breath she still sounded. Waverly glanced up at her face, and suddenly got the feeling that Chrissy may have been right after all, because Nicole was looking at her like she had hung the moon itself, and it took Waverly’s breath away.

“Come on, assholes,” Wynonna’s voice cut through the moment, and both of them jumped back from each other. “Doc’s trying to cook dinner and I can’t wait to see how long it takes for him to set something on fire!”

Waverly sighed, and shyly looked back to Nicole, who appeared to have composed herself. “Come on,” she said. “I don’t want to have to call the Fire Department. Not again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: The Olympics, Willa has a plan that may mean someone getting hurt, there's a shock exit from the competition, and the fight for glory is on.
> 
> That sounds dramatic and season finale-ish, right?
> 
> The last chapter is gonna be a beast to write, but I'll try and get it done within a week or two. Thank you for your patience!


	5. London

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the final chapter! It's almost 22k words, which makes it the longest chapter I've ever written in my little life!
> 
> Cross Country course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpMD0t-vqCk&t=13544s I'd recommend watching Nicola Wilson's round (39:17 - 49:25) for an idea of Peacemaker's enthusiasm levels... Ignore the commentator, he's a fucking idiot...
> 
> Enjoy!

“What do you mean you’re not staying with us?” Waverly said to Wynonna, looking on in confusion as Chrissy settled Peacemaker into his stall at Greenwich Park, where the equestrian events would take place.

“The grooms need to be close to the horses, it’s our job to make sure they’re okay,” Wynonna explained. “Besides, the Athletes Village is just that; for athletes.”

“But where are you going to stay?” Waverly asked.

Wynonna shrugged. “They’re putting us up in hotels around the corner. Me, the other grooms, Nedley and Willa.”

“Cause she’s not officially an athlete, right?” Waverly kept her voice low, knowing Willa could appear at any moment.

“Yep,” Wynonna confirmed with an eyeroll, “and you can bet she’ll be raging about that until we leave.”

Truthfully, Waverly thought it was a little harsh to not let the reserve riders stay in the Village, but if it kept Willa far away from her, then it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. She already knew that she would be sharing an apartment in the Village with the three other team members for the duration of their stay, and she looked forward to the camaraderie of living together with three people she had grown really quite fond of.

As if on cue, Nicole came over from Annie’s stable to greet them, smoothing her hair back before putting on a baseball cap to protect herself from the unusually sunny day in London.

“Ready to go, Waves?” She asked. “Doc and Dolls are waiting by the shuttle stop.”

“Sure,” Waverly said, a grin breaking out on her face. She turned to Wynonna and gave her a hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Relax, sis, the games don’t start until the end of the week,” Wynonna groaned, but squeezed her tightly all the same. “I’ll call you tonight, if you want?”

“Absolutely,” Waverly replied, glad her sister was reaching out. With this, as well as her reaction to Waverly’s coming out, it finally felt as though she had achieved the closeness she had so desperately wanted with her older sister. Even if it did come with sly comments about her lack of a dating life.

As Waverly walked side by side with Nicole towards the shuttle stop that would take them straight to the Athletes Village, she could feel all the unspoken words pass between them. It was a strange situation to be in; Nicole must have remembered her whispered coming out at four in the morning, and there was the fact that they had maybe almost kissed twice (both interrupted by Willow, funnily enough). Yet neither of them had really said anything about it.

It was just easier, Waverly reasoned, to pretend like she didn’t want to kiss Nicole every time she saw her. That she didn’t want to just lunge at her and see what happened; to have Nicole’s comforting weight on top of her as her fingers trailed down Waverly’s body to where she really needed them. The prospect of actually doing any of those things terrified her. What if Nicole didn’t feel the same way, and she had misread all of the signs? What if she felt the same, but didn’t want to take a chance on ruining their friendship? What if she was too focused on competing to date?

But as much as Waverly tried to focus solely on the upcoming competition (she knew that was the sensible thing to do), there was a resolute part of her that just thought about Nicole, and how beautiful her eyes were, and how silky her hair was, and how soft her skin was. She did her best not to let it affect her, but that part of her brain was getting increasingly more difficult to ignore.

*****

So, of course, she would be sharing a room with Nicole.

Wondering if the universe really did hate her that much, Waverly set her bag down on one of the single beds, looking around the small yet cosy room that would be her home for potentially the next three or so weeks, depending on if she wanted to stay for the Closing Ceremony or not. Nicole sat down on her own bed, looking out of the window at the courtyard below.

“Nice view,” she commented with a weak smile, as if she too was wrapping her head around their sleeping arrangements. Apart from sleeping in the lorry and one or two hotels at competitions, Waverly had never shared a room with anyone in her life. Certainly not with someone she was almost painfully attracted to.

“Yeah, real Village-like,” Waverly replied somewhat awkwardly, and there was a beat of silence before they both burst into laughter, the tension dissipating.

“I can’t believe we’re here,” Nicole said in awe. “It feels like a dream.”

Waverly looked at her fondly, smiling as she saw Nicole’s genuine wonderment. She couldn’t help but agree of course; the fact that they were actually in the Athletes Village at the Olympics didn’t feel real, even though Waverly had spent the past few weeks since her selection convincing herself it was.

Doc and Dolls were sharing the other bedroom in the apartment, and there was a living area with a television as well as a couple of bathrooms. There wasn’t a kitchen; food would be served in a huge canteen which provided a wide variety of food, as well as a McDonalds. Waverly wasn’t quite sure what that was doing at a sporting event such as this, but she supposed it was part of the sponsorship deal.

Greenwich Park was approximately a half hour shuttle bus ride away from the Village, and was home to a gigantic outdoor arena with a sand and wax based artificial surface, ensuring maximum grip and good take-offs for jumps. The Dressage and Showjumping phases of the competition, as well as the Dressage and Showjumping solo competitions themselves would all be done in that arena. In the park itself sprawled the Cross Country course. Although Waverly hadn’t seen the course yet, word was that it was a very hilly and fairly challenging course. It apparently wasn’t as terrifying as Badminton (the designers had taken into account some of the countries’ relative inexperience at four star level in an effort to make it fairer for everyone), but it would still be a huge challenge.

The Opening Ceremony would be held the coming Friday, but as the Eventing competition kicked off the next morning, Waverly already knew she wouldn’t be attending. It was a shame, but she knew she needed a good night’s sleep ahead of the competition. The boys would be riding on day one of the Dressage, with Doc being the team pathfinder. She and Nicole would be riding on the second day of Dressage. Nicole was their anchor rider, and so would be the last member of the team to compete. As the least experienced member of the team, Waverly would be taking the third spot in the running order, but it was still more pressure than she had ever been under before.

She wondered aloud if she was up to it.

“Of course you are, Waverly,” Nicole reassured her. “If the selectors had any doubts about you, they wouldn’t have picked you, remember?”

“I suppose,” Waverly smiled, taking a deep breath and looking around the room. It was pretty small, but it was light and airy, and Waverly knew it would come to feel cosy once she got used to it. Saying that, she already felt a pang of homesickness for her yard back in the Cotswolds. Even though she knew Gus was taking excellent care of the horses, she still worried about them; Willow especially. She was still only a month old, after all. And then there was Pikachu, who despite coming in fourth at Barbury after an excellent performance, was still playing second fiddle to Peacemaker. Waverly knew first-hand how awful that feeling was, and she hoped the horse didn’t feel the same as she had growing up.

But it was Peacemaker she needed to put all her focus on now. So Waverly took a deep breath, and began to unpack her suitcase.

*****

“I’m just worried that she’s got something planned,” Waverly sighed, hanging over the stall door as Chrissy brushed Peacemaker clean after their training session. It was two days until the start of the competition, and Willa hadn’t actively done anything yet, but Waverly was still suspicious. “She hasn’t said a word to me all week.”

“Well maybe that’s a good thing,” Chrissy reasoned. “She’s bitter, but maybe she doesn’t have any nefarious tricks set up.”

“I’m sorry, do you even know my sister?” Waverly raised her eyebrows. “It’s not like her to have nothing to say on something this big. I’m just worried is all.”

“That you or Peacemaker will be targeted?” Chrissy asked.

“Yeah,” Waverly sighed. “Or Nicole, for that matter. God knows Willa hates her, too.”

“Why?” Chrissy’s forehead crinkled. “I mean, besides the fact that Nicole is on the team and Willa isn’t.”

“Willa’s homophobic, and not just in the rolling-of-the-eyes way. She once hissed at me that Nicole was ‘a gay’ and said it wasn’t right,” Waverly sighed, remembering the time Willa had cornered her at Badminton.

“Oh, Waves, I’m sorry,” Chrissy lowered the brush and looked at Waverly sympathetically. “I know that must’ve been really hard for you to hear.”

“Oh, it got worse,” Waverly gave a hollow laugh. “She then figured out I was gay too, and threatened to tell Wynonna if I didn’t get Nicole to withdraw from Badminton.”

“She _didn’t_ ,” Chrissy’s voice was low.

Waverly nodded. “In the end I just told Wynonna myself, so it kinda backfired on Willa.”

“Still,” Waverly could tell Chrissy was fuming. “The fact that she tried to blackmail you over it is just…” Chrissy trailed off, shaking her head. “Have you told Wynonna she did that?”

“No,” Waverly admitted.

“Waves!”

“What? It’s not like she’d believe me!” Waverly protested.

“You don’t know that,” Chrissy countered. “Listen, Wynonna loves you so much. She’d give anything to make sure you were happy, and I’m sure she’d believe you over Willa.”

“But what if she doesn’t?” Waverly asked, tears springing to her eyes. “You don’t understand, Chrissy. It’s always been Willa and Wynonna together, with silly little Waverly on the outside looking in. They’ve always been inseparable, and when we were kids I never got a look in.”

Chrissy moved from Peacemaker’s side to Waverly, taking her hand over the stable door.

“I spent so much of my life feeling isolated from my family,” Waverly continued. “I got into riding because Willa did, because I wanted to feel like I was a part of something in this family, but nobody cared. Wynonna may have bought Peacemaker for me, but it’s only been since we moved here a few years ago that she and I really got close, and I can’t lose that, Chrissy, I just can’t.”

“Jesus, Wave, how long has Willa been bullying you?” Chrissy asked softly.

Waverly sniffed. “I’m not sure. It’s only been really bad in the last few years. She didn’t like that Wynonna was getting as close to me as she was to her.”

Her voice broke on the last word, and Chrissy pulled her into a hug, stroking her hair soothingly. In a way, it felt good to let it all out. Waverly hadn’t told anyone about the extent of Willa’s bullying, but before she knew it all the words and feelings had come rushing out.

“I know Wynonna’s made mistakes in the past, but I think you might be underestimating just how much she cares about you,” Chrissy said gently. “Give her a chance and she might surprise you.”

“Maybe after all this is over,” Waverly said. “There’s just too much happening right now. The Olympics, Nicole, the constant worrying that I’m gonna screw everything up…”

“You won’t,” Chrissy reassured her, taking a step back and squeezing Waverly’s hand. “You are ready for this, Waverly Earp, and you’re gonna go out there and crush it, I just know it.”

“Thanks,” Waverly managed a weak smile.

“So,” Chrissy prodded, after a moment’s silence. “What’s the deal with you and Nicole anyway? Any gossip?”

“Nothing new,” Waverly replied, glad to take the attention off her family history. “Oh, we’re rooming together in the Athletes Village though, so that should be fun.”

“Oh yeah?” Chrissy nudged her exaggeratedly. “Try not to have too much fun until after the competition, eh?”

“Come on, you know I didn’t mean it like that,” Waverly groaned. “Besides, she hasn’t said anything about liking me, so I’m starting to think this whole thing is a bit one-sided.”

“And I thought you were smart,” Chrissy rolled her eyes. “Maybe she’s thinking the same as you, and doesn’t want to make a move until after the Olympics are over and done with.”

“Maybe,” Waverly replied uneasily.

“Okay, you can’t seriously think you don’t have a chance, right?” Chrissy continued. “There’s got to have been some _moments_.”

“Well…” Waverly trailed off, fighting a sudden blush. “The night Willow was born, there was a second where I thought we might kiss, but then the foaling alarm went off.”

“And you haven’t told me this before why?”

“She called me beautiful that night,” Waverly suddenly remembered. “She said ‘did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?’ So much happened after that with Willow that I’d completely forgotten.”

Chrissy looked like she was a split-second away from actively squealing with excitement. “Go on!”

“And the other day, just before we came here, there was a moment,” Waverly’s eyes widened. “I didn’t realise how much closer we were getting, and then Willow bit Nicole and it was all gone, but before that it was like neither of us could look away…” Waverly trailed off, lost in the memories. Surely there had been intent on Nicole’s part as well as her own.

Chrissy whistled lowly. “Seems like Willow’s constantly ruining the moment, then,” she laughed.

Waverly snorted and shook her head. “Maybe it’s for the best right now. I know I keep going on about timing, but I really don’t think if we’d have started anything before the Olympics it would’ve ended well. There’s just too much happening.”

“I know,” Chrissy smiled. “But promise me you’ll talk to her – or at least consider it – after the competition is over?”

“Uh, I don’t know about that,” Waverly laughed nervously.

“I just want you to be happy,” Chrissy said encouragingly. “And do you really think, even if it doesn’t work out, that Nicole would be the type to just drop you?”

“No,” Waverly admitted in a small voice. “Okay, I’ll consider it.”

“That’s my girl!” Chrissy exclaimed. “Now, I need to finish with Sir Peacemaker here, so go be a distraction to someone else!”

Waverly rolled her eyes, but left anyway, feeling more like she had a weight off her shoulders and a spring in her step.

*****

The Cross Country course itself wasn’t the most intimidating track Waverly had ever walked, to her relief. It was reasonably challenging, with some very technical combinations, but probably the toughest thing about the course was the hills. It would be difficult for the less balanced horses to make the optimum time if they couldn’t take the ups and downs in stride. Luckily, Peacemaker’s size meant he was quite nimble and balanced, and Waverly knew that provided the ground was good and firm, that her horse would have no problems with the gradients.

Greenwich park wasn’t the largest area for a Cross Country course, but the designers had made full use of every corner, meaning the course had several twists and turns. This could again be a problem for some of the larger horses, and if it rained too much, the corners would likely become pretty treacherous. Waverly hoped the sunshine would prevail, but she knew the English weather too well for that.

It was interesting that the start and finish were in slightly different places, meaning that her team may not be able to be with her as she started, instead leaving for the finish field as soon as she had warmed up.

A lot of the fences on the course were beautifully designed, including a crescent moon which looked out over the cityscape below and gave the impression of jumping into space, and a water complex that was straight out of the children’s book _The Wind in the Willows_. It would certainly provide good viewing for the huge crowds that were expected, as well as the worldwide television audience that would be tuning in.

The Canadian team walked the course together with Nedley, who gave them advice and suggestions on how best to approach each fence. Sometimes Doc would pitch in with an idea too, being the most experienced member of the team. Waverly mostly kept quiet. She felt out of her depth surrounded by these far more experienced people. But she took onboard everything that the others were saying, and started to formulate her riding plan accordingly.

“Try and put team pressures to the back of your mind,” Nedley told them as they stood on the landing side of the final fence. “Just focus on the best way to get yourselves round, but don’t rely on being the discard score, okay?”

Even though they were a team of four, only the best three scores would count towards the team total, meaning they had a small margin of error. However, nobody was keen to be the discard in case they let the team down, and Waverly decided there and then that she would do her upmost to make sure her score was good enough to be counted.

*****

The day before the competition started was the day of the first trot up, as well as the day of the Opening Ceremony. Unfortunately for the team, they would only be attending one. Unlike Badminton, the trot up at the Olympics wasn’t a hugely public affair, and the audience was mainly comprised of fellow competitors, hardcore Eventing fans, and a few members of the press. Nedley had insisted on matching outfits for ‘unity’, which was mercifully simple; a red polo shirt and their normal white breeches. The shirt had a little Canadian flag over the left breast, and ‘Team Canada’ was written in white letters on the back. Nicole grimaced as she saw the shirt, and Waverly knew immediately she was worried about it clashing with her hair colour.

All of their horses passed the trot up easily, which was a weight off their backs, and meant they could now truly focus on the competition ahead. Waverly took Peacemaker back to his stable, waving the boys and Nicole off as they took the shuttle bus back to the Village. She stayed with her horse, chatting idly to him about anything and everything for a while, before someone clearing their throat caught her attention.

Turning around, Waverly heart sank as she saw it was Willa.

“What do you want?” She asked, shoulders tense. The last time Willa had cornered her in a stable to talk, it hadn’t ended well.

“Oh, nothing much,” Willa said airily, but she eyed Peacemaker with caution, and Waverly knew she too was remembering their last chat in a stall. “Just wanted to congratulate you for making the team.”

Waverly narrowed her eyes, sure there was a catch in there somewhere. “Thanks,” she said shortly.

“Hmm, yes, I think you should be thanking me,” Willa continued. “After all, you’d be a nobody without me.”

“Excuse me?”

“Please,” Willa rolled her eyes, still standing firmly outside the stable and out of Peacemaker’s reach. “You would never have gotten into this sport if it hadn’t been for me.”

“What?” Waverly was confused.

“You copied me,” Willa said slowly. “Couldn’t let me have anything to myself; poor little Waverly just _had_ to be the centre of attention. You couldn’t stand that Wynonna liked me more than she liked you, so you tried to be just like me. Without me, you wouldn’t have tried riding, or somehow blundered your way onto an Olympic team.”

Waverly was dumbfounded. “Maybe I took up riding to feel included,” she said, “but I made the team through my own merit, and I would never want to be just like you.”

Willa’s eyes glinted dangerously. “Careful now,” she warned. “Wouldn’t want fame to go to your head now, would we? Wonder what your newfound fanbase would think if they found out what you really are.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Willa snorted derisively. “You do realise you’re setting a bad example for the children?”

“Get to the point,” Waverly snapped.

“You’re unnatural,” Willa hissed. “You and that butch ginger.”

“This is about my sexuality?” Waverly scoffed. “Nice try, Willa, but I’m not the same person I was back in May. I’m okay with who I am, and so is Wynonna, even if you’re not.”

“Of course Wynonna’s not okay with it!” Willa exclaimed. “Jesus, how blind _are_ you?”

“She is so okay with it,” Waverly countered. “She said she was when I came out to her.”

“She was lying, Waverly!”

Waverly swallowed, feeling her blood rushing in her ears. “I don’t believe you.”

“Stupid little girl,” Willa tutted. “Believe what you want, doesn’t make it real. Everyone can see your pathetic little crush on Nicole, too.”

“Shut up,” Waverly growled.

“Nicole may have turned you gay,” Willa said, voice sickly sweet, “but believe me when I say that she wouldn’t touch you with a ten foot pole. I mean, could you blame her?”

Waverly’s hands clenched into fists at her sides.

“Nobody wants damaged goods,” Willa sneered, and Waverly lost it. She surged forwards, and Willa backed up rapidly as Waverly hit the stall door hard. Peacemaker stood behind her, and Waverly saw Willa’s eyes dart nervously towards the horse before she made a decision. Willa strode back towards Waverly, teeth bared in a snarl. Waverly, on impulse, reached up and slapped her across the face. Palm stinging, her eyes widened at her own actions. Willa looked surprised too, and before Waverly knew it, Willa’s arm was reaching out and grabbing Waverly’s hair.

Suddenly, Willa shrieked in pain, and Waverly looked to see Peacemaker’s teeth fastened around Willa’s forearm. Her hand released Waverly’s hair and Peacemaker let go, but not before drawing some blood. Willa seethed, but stepped back all the same, cradling her arm.

“Freak,” she spat at Waverly. “You’re going to regret that.”

And with that, she stormed off. Waverly stared after her, feeling hollow. She wasn’t sure what she and Peacemaker had just let themselves in for, but she was not keen to find out. She turned to her horse, who was looking at her with concerned eyes.

“Thank you,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly, feeling the tears starting to prick her eyes.

She almost jumped out of her skin a moment later when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Whirling round, ready to strike out, she was surprised to see it was Jeremy who was raising his hands in surrender.

“Woah,” he said placatingly, peering at her intently. “Are you okay? I saw Willa storming out of here just now. She looked pissed.”

Waverly’s face crumpled as the situation hit her like a ton of bricks.

“Hey, hey,” Jeremy soothed, quickly letting himself into Peacemaker’s stall and enveloping Waverly in a well-meaning, if slightly awkward hug. “What happened?”

“Have you ever had someone hate you for something you can’t change, for something that’s a part of you?” Waverly sniffed, trying not to cry all over Jeremy’s shirt.

“Yeah, a couple times. It’s never easy.” Jeremy said.

“How about if that someone was your sister who knows all your weaknesses and goes for them because she knows it’ll hurt you?”

“Less so,” Jeremy admitted. “Do you want me to go talk to her?”

“Jeremy, she would rip you limb from limb,” Waverly said. “But thank you for the offer.”

“What are friends for?” Jeremy said, and Waverly managed a smile, stepping back from the hug and leaning against Peacemaker’s shoulder.

“I’ll be fine,” she said, wiping her eyes.

“Okay,” Jeremy said, but he looked unconvinced.

“Please don’t tell anyone,” Waverly said. “It would only worry them and I don’t want that.”

“I won’t,” Jeremy promised, looking at her worriedly. “You know you can always talk to me right?”

“I know,” Waverly smiled.

“One gay to another,”

“Jeremy,” Waverly said warningly.

“Okay, yeah, got it,” Jeremy said, scrambling away. “Gotta go find a brush for Annie.”

“Thanks, Jeremy,” Waverly managed, and Jeremy gave her a comforting smile over his shoulder as he walked away towards Annie’s stable. She stroked down Peacemaker’s face one last time before leaving the stable and bolting it behind her. Glancing nervously around her for any sign of Willa, she concluded that her sister had probably gone back to her hotel room.

Waverly walked quickly to the shuttle bus stop, waiting for the next one to arrive. She took a deep breath, trying to alleviate some of the tension she’d been carrying as she exhaled. She should’ve known Willa wasn’t done with her yet, and it seemed like she still wasn’t, if her threats had been anything to go by.

Even though Wynonna had seemed fine with Waverly being gay, there was a small part of her that wondered if maybe Willa had been telling the truth.

 _Willa’s a liar_ , the logical part of her brain told her, _she would say anything to upset you_.

Sitting back helplessly as the two sides of her brain went to war, Waverly spent the journey back to the Athletes Village chewing at a fingernail nervously – a habit she had broken years ago. She went through security back at the Village, and walked to Hopground House, one of the blocks where the Canadian athletes were housed.

Stepping into the apartment, she saw the rest of the team already seated around the television in their pyjamas, watching the coverage and waiting for the Opening Ceremony to start. Three heads turned in unison as she opened the door, and Waverly tried to smile at them, but only managed a tight grimace.

“There you are, we were getting worried,” Nicole smiled gently at her.

“Sorry,” Waverly shook her head, shutting the door behind her. “I got held up. I – I’m not really feeling well, I think I’m gonna go to my room.” She rushed past them into her and Nicole’s shared room, sitting down on the bed and putting her head between her knees. It was all too much. Maybe she didn’t deserve to be here after all, maybe Willa was right about that. Maybe she was also right about Wynonna not being okay with her sexuality. Maybe she was right about Nicole not wanting her. Maybe she was right about ‘damaged goods’…

“Hey,” A voice came softly from the door, and Waverly realised through the haze in her brain that it was Nicole.

She heard, over the sound of her gasping for breath (when did that happen?) footsteps coming closer, and then Nicole was kneeling on the floor in front of her, laying a hand on her knee and speaking slowly and clearly.

“What do you need? Water? Some space? I can keep talking or shut up completely, whatever helps.” Her voice was soothing to Waverly’s panicked mind, and she felt her breathing start to slow and the fog start to recede.

“I need – need you to stay here,” Waverly managed, reaching out to clutch Nicole’s hand over her knee.

“Okay,” Nicole said, bringing her other hand up to cup Waverly’s cheek. “I want you to look at me, can you do that?”

Her head felt heavy, but Waverly managed to raise her eyes up to meet Nicole’s, so warm and deep that she felt like she was drowning in them.

“Good,” Nicole praised. “Now, I know it’s hard but try and breathe with me. Deep breaths.” Waverly noticed her chest rising and falling rhythmically and deeply, and she tried to copy that movement. Her ribcage felt less tight, and she gradually found herself able to breathe almost normally again. Her eyes remained locked onto Nicole’s the whole time, and it calmed her to know that Nicole was there, and was solid and constant.

It was only when her breathing was almost back to normal that Waverly noticed the wetness on her own cheeks, and realised she had been crying again. Her chin quivered, and she sobbed, slumping forwards into Nicole, who immediately stroked down her back, whispering reassurances in her ear.

Waverly didn’t know how long they stayed like that, her clinging onto Nicole until her tears dried and she didn’t feel like she could physically cry anymore. When the sobs stopped wracking her body, Nicole pulled back, pushing some hair out of Waverly’s face.

“Do you want me to call Wynonna?” Nicole asked.

Waverly shook her head. She was still a bit confused about what had been real, and Wynonna was now an unknown quantity that she couldn’t deal with right now. Her body and mind were exhausted, and all she wanted to do was sleep.

“Tired,” she said, and Nicole nodded her understanding.

“You’ve been through a lot,” she said, reaching down to remove Waverly’s boots and socks. “You should probably get some sleep. Breeches off or on?”

Waverly was suddenly very aware of the waistband cinching almost painfully around her middle as she tried to maintain her breathing. “Off,” she pushed at them uselessly, sighing in frustration when her hands refused to co-operate. “Can you?”

Nicole complied, popping the button and unzipping the white breeches before tugging them down gently. “Lift your butt,” she laughed, and Waverly put a monumental effort into standing briefly so Nicole could get the garment down to her knees. Flopping back down onto the bed, she allowed herself to giggle at the situation.

“Not how I pictured it at all,” Waverly commented, and maybe she imagined the blush that came to Nicole’s face at her words.

Nicole cleared her throat. “Get some sleep,” she repeated, pulling the covers back so Waverly could lie down. She made to get up, but Waverly’s hand shot out and grabbed onto her arm.

“Stay?” She hated the pleading tone in her voice, but she knew she wasn’t ready for Nicole to leave yet.

“Are you sure?” Nicole bit her lip worriedly. “I don’t want to crowd you.”

“Yeah,” Waverly murmured, fighting the sleep threatening to overtake her body.

“Okay,” Nicole said, and Waverly budged up so that Nicole could fit. It was only a single bed, after all, and they ended up pressed together, Nicole’s front against Waverly’s back. Waverly’s tired body took comfort from Nicole’s warm, solid weight behind her, and before long, she finally allowed herself to rest.

*****

Waverly woke early the next morning to a dull headache.

She sucked in a breath as memories from the previous evening came flooding back. She didn’t quite know if what had happened was a panic attack, per se – having never experienced one before – but whatever it was, it hadn’t been nice. She became aware of the arm slung over her waist and the body behind her, cheeks going pink as she remembered her interactions with Nicole.

Waverly felt Nicole stir behind her, and the arm around her waist tightened for a split-second before withdrawing as Nicole yawned.

“Morning,” she said sleepily, and Waverly glanced over her shoulder as Nicole sat up. “How are you feeling?”

“Bit of a headache,” Waverly admitted. “But overall, a lot better. Thanks.”

“No problem,” Nicole gave her a dopey grin that melted Waverly’s heart just a little bit, and there was a flash of something in her mind; a future where they woke up like this every morning and Waverly got to see Nicole sleep-warm and with tousled hair. Nicole stood up, stretched, and wandered off into the living area, probably in search of coffee.

Waverly checked the watch she hadn’t taken off last night, and saw that it was about six am. The first competitor wouldn’t be due in the arena for another four hours, but Waverly was very familiar with the morning routine by now, and she knew that, for the competitors, the day started a lot earlier. Even though she herself wasn’t riding until tomorrow, she still wanted to watch all of the Dressage tests to see what she was up against.

While she was very aware of her role on the team, Waverly also knew there were individual medals on the line. She would perform one Dressage test and one Cross Country round, then on Tuesday, provided she was still in the competition, she would jump one Showjumping round in the morning to decide the team placings, and then if she was in the top twenty-five individually she would jump again in the afternoon to determine her individual placing. The Olympics were a bit strange like that, but Waverly supposed it amped up the pressure quite well.

She changed into fresh clothes, deciding on a casual shirt and jeans. The weather was forecast to be quite cool, and she didn’t want to freeze in shorts. Waverly made her way into the living area to find a mug of coffee waiting for her. She took a sip and instantly felt better.

Flopping down onto one of the sofas beside Nicole, she tuned in to the morning news coverage on the television. Doc and Dolls were nowhere to be seen, and Waverly didn’t know if they had left already or if they were still asleep.

“Do you want to talk about the other night?” Nicole asked.

“Nope,” Waverly said. She didn’t really want to unpack all that had happened, not when it was all so fresh in her mind.

“Please at least talk to Wynonna about it,” Nicole said worriedly, and Waverly gritted her teeth at the mention of her name.

“I said no,” she said, a bit sharper than she’d intended, and Nicole raised her eyebrows.

“I’m worried about you,” she said, not pulling any punches. “Bottling stuff up isn’t good for you, and I know Wynonna will understand-“

“Do you?” Waverly snapped. “I’m sure you do, since _everyone_ clearly knows Wynonna better than I do!” She felt bad for getting defensive when Nicole had been nothing but supportive, but she could feel her brain shutting down any more emotional talks. “Besides, she’s busy with preparations, and so am I, so really there’s no time.”

“That’s not true and you know it,” Nicole tried again, and Waverly rolled her eyes.

“I have to go.”

“Wave,” Nicole pleaded as Waverly stood up, setting her mug on the coffee table before grabbing her ID badge and bag and leaving. She winced as the door slammed shut behind her.

Truthfully, she felt awful. She knew Nicole was only trying to help, and she wasn’t wrong about bottling things up being bad for her, but Waverly felt as if she’d had enough truthful conversations to last a lifetime. And as much as she hated it, Willa had got to her. Rational thinking had unfortunately gone out the window, and waking up with Nicole after sharing such an emotional moment had scared her. She was scared by just how much she wanted that future with Nicole, and she couldn’t figure out how to deal with it.

“It was supposed to be a stupid crush,” she muttered to herself.

She took a shuttle bus to Greenwich Park, and spent some time with Peacemaker until she felt more prepared to deal with the world. By that time, there was a hustle of activity beginning over at the colossal arena, and she wandered over in search of breakfast from one of the surrounding eateries.

She was recognised a couple of times, and chatted with the spectators, feeling her mood steadily improving with each positive interaction. By the time the clock struck ten and the first rider, an experienced man from the United States, entered the arena, she felt almost normal.

There were fourteen teams competing, and a further eighteen individual riders to make up the seventy-four horse and rider combinations. Canada was eighth in the running order. After the first round of team competitors, there were six individuals before the next wave of teams, and so on, which meant Waverly was number forty-eight in the order.

Even though all members of the team had been in very good form recently, Waverly knew they would have stiff competition from a number of other countries. Germany, Great Britain and Australia had also been going extremely well in the past few years, and there were plenty of other countries snapping at their heels with a wealth of both old and new talent at their disposal.

As rider number eight, Doc and his horse Ghost River delivered a very strong test to put them into an early lead. Waverly knew that it likely wouldn’t stay that way, but she felt a strong sense of satisfaction seeing Canada at the top of the team standings after the first rider.

Just as the third team’s second rider went in, a young French woman astride a large bay horse, Waverly felt a presence next to her at the back of the grandstand. She looked up to see Wynonna standing over her, arms folded.

“Guess who was woken up at the ass-crack of dawn to a panicked call from your girlfriend?”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Waverly mumbled, watching nervously out of the corner of her eye as Wynonna sat beside her.

“Either way, girl was worried,” Wynonna put her feet up on the seat in front of her. “Apparently you were in a bit of a state yesterday?”

Waverly rolled her eyes. “I’m fine.”

“Bullshit,” Wynonna said firmly. “Talk to me.”

Waverly bit her lip. She didn’t want to get into an argument with Wynonna, although Willa would probably be thrilled if she did…

“Have I done something wrong?” Wynonna’s voice was softer this time. “Whatever it is, I’m sorry.”

Waverly sighed. “You’re fine with me being gay, right?”

Wynonna was taken aback. “Of course I am.”

“You sure?” Waverly prodded. “You’re not just lying to make me feel better?”

“Babygirl, you’re my little sister and I love you, okay?” Wynonna said earnestly. “I know I haven’t always been the best at showing it, but I am so proud of everything you’ve achieved. That includes having the courage to be yourself.”

“Promise?” Waverly whispered, not trusting herself to look at her sister.

Wynonna hugged her and rested her chin on her shoulder. “I am more than okay with you being gay, to answer your question, and I’m really sorry if I’ve ever made you feel like that’s not true.”

“Sorry for doubting you,” Waverly sighed, a huge weight lifted from her shoulders. “I guess I’ve… just been feeling a bit insecure lately.”

Waverly knew the exact cause of her insecurities, but still a part of her held back. She and Wynonna were in a good place, and she didn’t want to ruin it. Besides, she had to handle Willa on her own. It was nobody else’s problem, after all.

Wynonna kissed the top of her head. “You’ve got nothing to feel insecure about, not where I’m concerned,” she promised. “And I know you’re gonna come away from this competition with a medal.”

Waverly laughed. It didn’t seem like a possibility, but it was nice to dream.

*****

At the end of the first day’s Dressage, and after two riders had gone for each team, Canada had slipped down to third. It wasn’t that Dolls had scored badly; he had actually achieved a very respectable penalty score, it was just that Germany and Australia had put up leaderboard-topping tests to take over the lead from them.

Still, third was a very good place out of fourteen teams, and the margins between scores were very small, so Nedley was still full of hope as he debriefed them. After dismissing Doc and Dolls, he turned to Waverly and Nicole.

“Now, ladies,” he said gruffly, “I don’t want to put any undue pressure on you, but do try and make sure you’re on form tomorrow.”

“Of course,” Nicole nodded, studiously avoiding eye-contact with Waverly.

Waverly herself felt a little awkward. She knew this morning’s conversation with Nicole was still looming over both of their heads, and she also knew that she needed to make it right.

She waited until Nicole headed to bed that night, and followed her into their room, sitting down purposefully on her own bed and looking at Nicole expectantly.

“I’m sorry for calling Wynonna,” Nicole said in a rush. “I know you said you didn’t want to talk to her, and I disregarded that. I was just really worried about you and-“

Waverly held up a hand, and Nicole stopped. “I’m not mad,” she reassured her. “I actually wanted to apologise too. I shouldn’t have bitten your head off this morning, you were only trying to help.”

Nicole breathed a sigh of relief and gave her a lopsided smile. “Forgiven.”

“I actually had a really good talk with Wynonna,” Waverly continued. “So I should probably be thanking you.”

“I’m glad you could talk it out with her,” Nicole said. Waverly could tell she wanted to know more, but didn’t want to push any boundaries after this morning.

“I just-“ Waverly took a deep breath, trying to find the best way to put it. “I’m worried about Willa, and what she might say or do next.”

“She’s been giving you trouble.” It wasn’t a question, but Waverly confirmed it anyway.

“We talked yesterday.” ‘Talked’ was an understatement. “She just brought up some painful stuff for me, I guess. It got to me more than I thought it would.” She frowned.

“What did she say?” Nicole pressed gently.

“Just a load of crap about our childhoods, and Wynonna, and a few shots at me being gay,” Waverly said, trying to wave it off, but she could tell Nicole was getting angry on her behalf.

“She-“ Nicole cut herself off, fists clenching.

“It won’t make you feel any better, but she said the same thing about you,” Waverly warned, choosing to leave out the parts where Willa taunted her about her feelings for Nicole.

“I’m used to hearing it,” Nicole said. “But you haven’t been out for long, and hearing those vile things from your own sister…”

“I’ll handle it,” Waverly promised. “And if I need your help, I’ll tell you.”

“Promise?” Nicole gave her a tight half-smile.

“Promise,” Waverly confirmed. “Now, can we please go back to being okay?”

Nicole’s face softened. “Of course,” she said. “For the record, I was never not-okay.”

Waverly felt a slow smile spread across her face. “Stay with me again?” She asked shyly, watching as Nicole’s eyes widened. “I just slept really well last night,” Waverly confessed.

“Me too,” Nicole admitted. She took a deep breath, ducking her head to look at the floor. “I’ll stay as long as you want me to.”

“Good,” Waverly breathed, pulling back the covers so they could both settle in the bed. This time, Nicole laid on her back, and Waverly curled into her side, her heart hammering in her chest as she remembered the similarity to the night Willow was born, and all the memories that came flooding back from then.

“Good luck tomorrow,” Nicole whispered.

“You too,” Waverly replied. “Not that you’ll need it; you and Annie are magic to watch.”

Nicole smiled widely at the compliment, and before she could stop herself, Waverly reached out and poked one of her dimples. They were just too close to ignore, and it was something she’d wanted to do for a while. Nicole looked over at her almost bashfully, something open and vulnerable in her expression, and Waverly had to shut her eyes tight in order to bear it. Otherwise, she might have just leaned over and kissed her, and God knows that would’ve been a complication.

Instead, she tried to slow her brain down enough to sleep, and eventually managed it, surrounded by warmth and the smell of Nicole’s hair.

*****

The next morning was a flurry of activity.

Waking up in Nicole’s arms was becoming worryingly familiar, and Waverly refused to let herself over-analyse it. Instead, she dressed in her breeches and white shirt, pulling a sweatshirt on and taking her Dressage jacket on its hanger with her to the stables. Her long black boots were polished, her clothes were spotless, and Peacemaker had been washed and groomed until he practically sparkled.

Chrissy wiped the sweat off her forehead with her arm. “Your genius horse rolled in his own shit last night,” she greeted.

Waverly gasped and turned to Peacemaker, who was looking as close to smug as a horse could get. She thanked Chrissy for getting him clean again, and mentally ran over the Dressage test one last time, even though she knew it in her sleep.

It was warmer than it had been the previous day, or maybe that was just being in the more restrictive smart riding clothes as opposed to a t-shirt. Waverly donned her jacket, hat and gloves just as Chrissy finished tacking Peacemaker up, and she gave Waverly a boost onto the horse’s back. Waverly gathered up the reins and the three of them made the walk over to the warm up arena.

Today, Waverly would be the eleventh competitor to ride her test, and she checked that Peacemaker’s small number placard was securely attached to his bridle before she began to put him through his paces. She knew that Nicole and Jeremy would miss her test because they were putting the finishing touches on Annie’s preparation, but she smiled as she recognised the rest of the team and their grooms, as well as Wynonna, standing by near the entrance to the main arena. Thankfully, Willa was nowhere to be seen.

Peacemaker warmed up well, and Waverly knew that if he could hold it together then they could end up in the top ten after Dressage, which would be a real boost to the team score. So far there had only been one competitor to go sub-forty penalties; the judges were scoring quite harshly, so Waverly knew that something in the low forties would put her in a handy position going into Cross Country.

As soon as she cantered into the main arena, Peacemaker came alive even more. He had never been the most elegant or the flashiest horse, but the way he was acting, nobody would’ve known. His gait was elevated and expressive, and Waverly was taken by surprise at the reflexes she felt from the horse in response to her aids. Bewildered, she focused her attention as the bell rang to signal the start of her test.

Peacemaker didn’t put a foot wrong.

He rose to the occasion in front of the huge audience, floating across the ground without feeling like he was touching the surface at all. Waverly was stunned, but made the most of it, feeling her spirits soaring at the performance her horse was giving. She had been working hard at Peacemaker’s Dressage skills all year, knowing it was his weakest phase, but what he was achieving was beyond what she thought was possible for the little grey gelding.

As she executed her final halt and saluted the judges, Waverly let out a huge breath as the crowd burst into applause. Neck damp with sweat from the effort of appearing effortless, Peacemaker snorted in alarm and leapt forwards as the wall of sound hit his sensitive ears. Waverly sat tight and gathered up the reins, leaning down to fuss the horse beneath her and paying no attention to his dramatics as they made their way to the exit.

She couldn’t stop the smile from splitting her face as she was mobbed by the team on her way out, and was practically pulled from Peacemaker’s back by them. Enveloped in a group hug, Waverly couldn’t believe that this was her life. Peacemaker had just put up his best Dressage performance at the Olympic Games, and she couldn’t be happier.

Her score came through; 37.1 penalties, which took her into the lead. Waverly knew she had scored lower penalty marks before, but never at this high level of competition, and she knew the tougher the competition, the harder the good scores were to get, so she was ecstatic. Out of nearly fifty competitors so far, she was in the lead at the Olympic Games!

Of course, it didn’t last, and the anchor rider for the German team overtook her with what was admittedly a faultless test, but it still stung a bit. Wynonna patted her shoulder comfortingly as they watched from the edge of the arena, Waverly back in her sweatshirt instead of her posh riding jacket, although her hair was still up in its neat bun from the morning.

“You’re still going to be in the top few going into tomorrow,” She reminded her, and Waverly smiled at her sister.

Before too long, it was Nicole’s turn. She wore the number sixty-eight, which Wynonna bemoaned as being ‘so close to hilarious’, and she looked calm and collected aboard Annie. Waverly knew instantly that this was going to be a good performance.

Her eyes never left Nicole as she rode the intricate Dressage test with ease, praying that they would reach the end without mishap. Aside from wanting Nicole to do well for her individual chances, Waverly knew that her round was crucial for the team placement. If she scored well, Canada could move up to second place behind Germany after the first phase. She could feel Wynonna holding her breath beside her, and knew her sister – though she still sometimes claimed to dislike the sport – was just as invested as she was.

Once Nicole finished her test, Waverly waited with baited breath for the score. She knew it had been an extremely strong performance, but it remained to be seen whether or not the judges agreed. After what felt like an eternity, her score came through: 39.4 penalties, which just about placed her in the top five with less than ten competitors remaining. Waverly cheered along with the rest at the score, and even the final British rider besting both of their scores a few moments later couldn’t dampen her spirits.

By the end of the proceedings, Germany held a narrow lead over Canada, with Great Britain and Australia hotly contesting third place. Individually, Waverly was in bronze medal position, Nicole in sixth, Doc in tenth, and Dolls was in fourteenth and was the discard score at this stage. Fourteenth out of seventy-four competitors and the discard score was a strange combination, but Waverly supposed it only proved how well their team had done thus far.

Nedley insisted on a group picture by the big electronic scoreboard, and Waverly tucked into Nicole’s side without a second thought. Wynonna took a picture on Waverly’s phone, and once she got it back she didn’t hesitate before uploading the image to Instagram, already mentally preparing herself for the flood of comments she knew was coming.

*****

“You were amazing today,” Nicole told her as they left the stables that evening, walking side by side towards the shuttle bus stop to wait for their ride back to the Athletes Village.

“So were you,” Waverly said.

“I’ve never seen you ride like that before,” Nicole said, a certain amount of awe in her voice.

Waverly blushed. “Well, I can’t take the credit,” she said. “I think something just came over Peacemaker as we went into the arena. It was like he was a completely different horse.”

“A horse is only as good as its rider,” Nicole winked at her.

Waverly wasn’t inclined to believe her, but she smiled anyway, hip-checking Nicole playfully. “Charmer,” she said, and Nicole giggled, raising her hands in surrender.

They stayed in comfortable silence, and Waverly cast her mind over to her little horse, eating his dinner peacefully as he awaited the thrills of the Cross Country. The team had managed to walk the course again, and Waverly knew it well, but she still felt the early stirrings of nerves in her gut. She frowned. Usually she wasn’t nervous until the actual day, but she supposed the pressure was higher, being the Olympics and all that.

She took a deep breath, knowing that usually worked to settle her stomach, but was concerned when she felt no change. Waverly mentally examined the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, and soon realised it wasn’t nerves at all, but something else entirely.

“Are you okay?” Nicole peered at her. “You’ve gone a bit pale.”

Waverly looked over her shoulder worriedly at the stables, and the uneasy feeling increased. She didn’t know how she knew, but something told her very strongly that her horse was in trouble. Chrissy and the other grooms had gone back to the hotel, and Doc and Dolls were at the Village already, and she didn’t know what to do. She turned to Nicole.

“This is going to sound crazy,” she started, “but Peacemaker’s in danger.”

“Let’s go,” Nicole said, and they both took off in a sprint towards the stable block, their feet pounding on the concrete.

Waverly’s heart raced as they neared the stables, anxious as to what they would find, and how she knew something was wrong. They heard the high, worried sound of a horse neighing, and Waverly pushed her legs to move faster. Nicole had longer legs, but Waverly felt like she had grown wings, and drew ahead as they approached.

Lungs burning, Waverly skidded to a stop in front of Peacemaker’s stable and came face to face with Willa. Her eyes darted to Willa’s hand, in which she held a syringe. Her other hand reached for the wild-eyed horse, who was snorting loudly and trying to evade Willa in the small space.

Waverly wrenched open the stable door and launched herself at her sister, tackling her to the ground and knocking the syringe out of her hand. Nicole arrived then, just as Willa pushed Waverly off of her. She tried to run, but Nicole caught her around the waist as Waverly scrambled to her feet. They were drawing the attention of other grooms, and Waverly knew one of them would probably alert the officials to the commotion.

Willa, writhing desperately in Nicole’s hold, snapped her head back into Nicole’s nose. Nicole hissed in pain and recoiled, and Willa tried to take the advantage and flee. Waverly ran after her, trusting Nicole to look after her horse, and it wasn’t long before she caught her sister.

“What were you doing?” She demanded breathlessly, a red mist covering her vision.

“Getting you disqualified,” Willa sneered, before seizing Waverly’s shoulder and launching her sideways into a stable door. Waverly hit it awkwardly, hands-first, and cried out as pain rushed up her left arm. Willa didn’t hesitate, turning tail and sprinting away as Waverly cradled her injured wrist.

A stranger made his way over to her, bringing with him an official steward, and Waverly gritted her teeth and tried her best to explain what had happened. Nicole jogged over a minute later, holding the syringe with a latex glove from the emergency bag beside Peacemaker’s stable.

“I think it’s testosterone,” she explained to the official, whose eyes went wide at the competition-banned substance. “She didn’t manage to inject him with it.”

“All the same, he’ll need a drug test,” The official explained, and even though Waverly knew he would pass it, she still felt like crying. The stress was something none of them needed, and the pain in her wrist still hadn’t faded. The official turned to her. “Are you okay, miss?” He asked.

“Fine,” Waverly lied, dropping her arm to her side and forcing a smile. She couldn’t be eliminated, not for something as small as this, and she didn’t want to draw more attention, so she ignored the pain. “That woman was Willa Earp, by the way,” she said, voice quivering. “And she was trying to get me disqualified.”

The official nodded gravely, and assured Waverly that they would handle the case sensitively and with tact.

“She won’t bother you again,” he promised, and Waverly choked back a hollow laugh at his words.

He left to fetch a vet for the drug test, and Nicole came up to face her with worried eyes.

“Are you okay?” They both asked at the same time, letting out a breathless laugh at the jinx.

“I’m fine,” Nicole promised. “Bit of a nosebleed, but nothing’s broken.”

Sure enough, a trail of blood dripped down from her nose, staining her pale skin, and Waverly reached up with her uninjured hand to wipe it away. “I’m okay, my wrist just hurts a bit from getting thrown into the door.”

Nicole looked unconvinced, but she let the matter rest for now. “Please tell me you’re going to talk to Wynonna now,” she pleaded.

“Yeah,” Waverly said. “I can’t keep this from her anymore. Not when she tried to hurt an innocent animal.”

“She tried to hurt you too,” Nicole reminded her. “More than once.”

“I know,” Waverly’s face crumpled. “I thought I could handle it, y’know?”

“I know, baby,” Nicole soothed, and Waverly’s eyes snapped up to hers as they both registered the use of the pet name. Nicole flushed a pretty shade of pink, and Waverly swallowed heavily. “Um, let’s call Wynonna and Nedley and get this sorted.”

*****

Explaining the events of the evening had actually been the easy part.

For one, there was solid proof that Willa had attempted to inject Peacemaker with a banned substance, even though his drug test had mercifully come back clean. There was Nicole’s bloody nose from the fight too, and although Waverly hid the pain in her left wrist from them, she still was truthful about the fact that Willa had thrown her into a door in order to get away.

Willa hadn’t returned to the hotel, and Waverly had stayed put at the stables, standing guard over her horse, so nobody really knew where she was. There were security guards out looking for her, but they had been unsuccessful thus far.

“I’ll skin her alive,” Wynonna growled, pacing back and forth at a dizzying rate. “She hurts both of you, she tries to hurt _my_ horse, and for what? Jealousy?”

“I’ll make sure the selectors hear about this,” Nedley promised. “If I have my way, she’ll never be considered for another team ever again.”

Waverly wanted so badly to talk to Wynonna alone, to tell her about everything Willa had put her through, but Nedley was currently promising and threatening all sorts of things towards Willa, so she couldn’t really find a good time to interject. She caught Nicole’s eye, silently begging for help.

“Coach,” Nicole said, putting a hand out to Nedley. “I know it’s not the ideal time, but I have some questions about the course tomorrow and I was wondering if I could hear your thoughts?”

“Of course, kid,” Nedley replied gruffly, distracted from his Willa tangent, and Nicole led him away from the sisters, chatting animatedly and throwing a quick nod over her shoulder to Waverly. Eternally grateful for Nicole’s tact, Waverly heaved a sigh and turned to her sister.

“There’s something I need to tell you about Willa,” she began nervously, fiddling with the hem of her shirt with her good hand. “There’s not really an easy way to say it.”

“What is it?” Wynonna’s eyes were full of concern, and Waverly hated to shatter the image she’d had of a person, but things had gone too far to hold it back any longer.

“Um, so, Willa has been tormenting me. Like, a lot.”

“She what?” Wynonna narrowed her eyes. Waverly gulped before continuing.

“Yeah, she’s told me I’m talentless, that I’m damaged, that I’m not good enough, that I’m wrong and unnatural for being gay,” Waverly’s voice strengthened as she listed off each attack, feeling lighter with every word. “She’s tried to blackmail me; threatened to out me if I didn’t do what she wanted, threatened to paint me as the bad guy in front of you when she didn’t get her way, and a whole bunch more that was less recent, but…”

Wynonna was silent for a long moment, her jaw tight. Unsure of what was happening, Waverly was surprised to see tears suddenly welling in Wynonna’s eyes.

“Waverly, I’m so sorry,” Wynonna’s voice broke on the apology, and Waverly immediately stepped closer and wrapped her right arm around her sister. “I should’ve known, I should’ve done something. God, I knew she could be mean but I never thought she would say all that.”

“She never did it in front of you,” Waverly said, trying vainly to swallow the lump in her own throat. “She wanted to pit us against each other, and I was so scared to tell you. So scared.”

Wynonna stroked her hair, the tears starting to fall down her face. “God, I’m the worst sister in the world. Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve said something, done something!”

“I didn’t know,” Waverly cried. “I didn’t know you would believe me. I thought you would take her side, and things would be back to the way they used to be when we were kids.”

Wynonna shook her head fiercely. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. That you didn’t feel like you could talk to me. I promise I’ll be better.”

“It’s okay,” Waverly sniffed. “I should’ve trusted you. And don’t you dare say you’re the worst sister in the world, okay?”

“I love you so much, Waves,” Wynonna said. “Don’t ever forget that. And ignore everything Willa said. You are so talented, and brave, and caring, and all the things she isn’t.”

Waverly buried her face in Wynonna’s neck, trembling as she finally heard everything she wanted to hear from her sister. “I’m not damaged goods?” She asked quietly.

“No,” Wynonna promised. “Actually, for someone who’s been through so much, you’re remarkably put-together.”

Waverly managed a watery laugh, feeling a strange sense of calm overcome her. “Can I tell you something?”

“Of course you can.”

“I _really_ like Nicole,” Waverly said slowly. “And I’m starting to think she likes me too, but I’m scared. What should I do?”

Wynonna pulled her closer, ruffling her hair affectionately. “I think you should tell her. In your own time, but I think it’s something she’d want to hear.”

“You think?” Waverly smiled, pulling back slightly from the hug and wiping her eyes. Wynonna helped her, swiping her thumbs under Waverly’s eyes to clear away the lingering tears.

“As an outsider to whatever it is you two have, I really do,” She promised. “Besides, you could do a lot worse. Nobody will ever be good enough for my baby sister, but Haught’s the closest to perfect I’ve ever known.”

“Thanks,” Waverly said gratefully. “That means a lot.”

“Duh,” Wynonna sniffed, trying to get herself back to normal. “My word is law. And to prove it, I’m making an executive Earp decision and kicking Willa off the yard. She can find her own place, I don’t want her living with us anymore.”

“Are you sure?” Waverly said, not daring to hope.

“Positive,” Wynonna confirmed. “If that bitch comes near you again, I’m lighting her on fire.”

*****

When Waverly finally got back to the Athletes Village that night, she found Doc had made her some cocoa, and Dolls waiting with some chocolate and a rare smile. Waverly felt like crying all over again when they said that Willa had finally been found and taken into custody. The boys both gave her a hug before she headed off to bed, and Waverly had never been more grateful to be a part of such an amazing team.

She yawned as she walked into her and Nicole’s shared bedroom, and changed into her pyjamas clumsily just before her roommate came back from the bathroom.

“How did it go?” Was her first question.

Waverly smiled tiredly. “Really well,” she said. “Wynonna’s going to make Willa move out.”

“That’s great news!” Nicole grinned, but that faded once she saw Waverly try and get into bed. “You’re hurt.”

“Not badly,” Waverly protested, even though the throbbing in her wrist disagreed.

“Hold on,” Nicole said, leaving the room for a few moments. Waverly guessed she was making a visit to the first aid kit in the communal area. She was proved right a couple of minutes later when Nicole came back with an icepack, some painkillers, and a wrist support bandage. “Here, let me help you.”

“You don’t have to…” Waverly said weakly.

“I want to,” Nicole said seriously, reaching for Waverly’s arm gently. She complied, and winced as Nicole wrapped the icepack around her wrist. After a moment of discomfort, the cold soothed the pain a bit, and Waverly sighed.

“It’s not bad,” She promised Nicole. “I think I just twisted it, is all.”

“Even so,” Nicole frowned. “Better safe than sorry.”

“Yes, doctor,” Waverly teased, rolling her eyes exaggeratedly.

Nicole snorted, and popped two painkillers out of the foil wrapper and handed them to Waverly with a glass of water. Waverly swallowed them dutifully, draining the rest of the water while she was at it. After ten minutes with the icepack, Nicole removed it and set about unboxing the wrist support, easing it carefully over Waverly’s hand and securing it. Her wrist still hurt, but it felt a bit less useless now, and Waverly was determined to ride tomorrow.

Besides, her round wasn’t until mid-afternoon, so her injury would most likely have healed itself by then. No need to worry Nedley or the team. No need to even worry Nicole, not over what was probably nothing.

Waverly didn’t even have to request that Nicole sleep in her bed again that night. She gestured to the pillow and Nicole smiled indulgently in response, curling herself around Waverly protectively in the narrow bed. Feeling her tense muscles turn to jelly as soon as they laid down, Waverly resolved to finally tell Nicole how she felt, and soon.

*****

Waverly didn’t realise how exhausted she must’ve been, but she slept through until gone eleven the next morning. She woke up slowly, feeling warm and relaxed, then her eyes shot open as she panicked about what time it was.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Nicole whispered from behind her, and Waverly realised it was the beeping of Nicole’s alarm that had woken her up. “We’re not due on course for hours, and I thought you deserved a lie in.”

“Did feel good,” Waverly sighed. “Still, got to get up now.”

She felt Nicole nod behind her, and they both got up and went about their morning routines. In an ideal world, Waverly would’ve liked to walk the Cross Country course one more time before she rode it, but she recognised that sleep had been the better option in this case. The Cross Country phase didn’t begin until twelve-thirty, and in the end Waverly and Nicole managed to get to the start of the course with the rest of the team just before then, having stopped to get food on the way.

“How’re you feeling, Earp?” Nedley questioned, and Waverly held her bandaged arm discreetly behind her back.

“Ready to get out there and win,” Waverly replied, and Nedley cracked a smile.

“Attagirl,” he said proudly, and Waverly felt a rush of affection for him.

Doc was the first of the Canadian team to tackle the course, and Waverly hoped to learn a lot from watching his round. They grouped by the monitors, Rosita having already gone with Wynonna to the finish area to meet them at the end of the round. As with the trot up, they had special team colours; a red base layer, black body protector and white air vest, which would make them fairly recognisable as they went around the course.

As Doc received his thirty-second warning, the course seemed to be riding well. One rider had already gotten round inside the optimum time, and there had only been a few penalties here or there, though that may have been a reflection of the experience of each team’s pathfinding rider. It was with confidence and composure that Doc began his round, the seventeen year old horse rising to the occasion as spirited as ever.

The first two jumps were visible from the start, and Ghost River leapt them well, settling back into his gallop rhythm as soon as he had landed. They watched the rest on the monitors, keeping an ear on the Public Address commentator too. Doc and his horse jumped fence after fence with the same effortless style, until they reached the second and final water complex at fence seventeen and eighteen.

They negotiated the drop fence into the water and the barge in the water itself without a problem, but in a rare moment of miscommunication, Doc turned a split-second too late to the tall, narrow step out of the water and there wasn’t much Ghost River could do as he approached on the angle. He tried to take off, but put his front feet back down at the last moment, and the momentum sent Doc forwards into a roll onto the grassy bank. There was a collective gasp from the team back at the monitors as horse and rider parted company, and Nedley swore loudly.

“Oh, and there’s something you don’t see every day!” The commentator said, the surprise evident in his voice. “Doc Holliday, the most experienced rider on the Canadian team, suffers a fall at the Inland Waterways fence, and that puts them out of the competition.”

Waverly couldn’t believe it. Luckily, both Doc and his horse were uninjured in the fall, but they were now eliminated, and the team was down to three riders. This meant all of their scores would have to count now, and that piled even more pressure onto each of them. Waverly exchanged an uneasy glance with Nicole and Dolls, who both looked as perturbed as she did.

“Right,” Nedley said gruffly. “No point crying over spilt milk. Just nobody else fall off, please.”

He gave Nicole a pointed look, who rolled her eyes. “Lexington was months ago,” she grumbled.

*****

Before Dolls’ round, Waverly caught up with Chrissy, who assured her that Peacemaker was no worse for wear given his ordeal the night before, and was raring to go. Relieved, she changed into her Cross Country gear, pulling her gloves on over the bandage, and wincing as she strapped her wristwatch on over it. Contrary to what she had hoped, her wrist hadn’t healed itself overnight, and she began to wonder if there was more to the injury than what she had initially thought. Still, she had to complete now that Doc was out of contention, or all hope of a team medal would be lost entirely. No, she couldn’t afford to tell anyone about it.

She made it back to the monitors in time to watch Dolls’ round. She felt like she was holding her breath for the entirety of it, but Dolls managed to get round with only a handful of time penalties, being five or ten seconds over the optimum time of ten minutes and three seconds.

“Oh, thank God,” Waverly sighed, and Nicole gave her a smile.

“We’re still in the hunt,” she said gleefully. And it was true. After the first round of team riders, Canada had been joint last with Doc’s elimination (translated into 1000 penalties), and they were still near the bottom after two team riders, but once Waverly and Nicole’s scores had been posted, the 1000 penalties would be discarded and they would – with any luck – be back near the top of the order.

“Now all we have to do is jump clear,” Waverly reminded her, and Nicole nodded seriously.

“Piece of cake,” she said, but her eyes were watching Waverly closely. “How is your wrist feeling?”

Waverly glanced around to see who was within earshot. Luckily, Nedley was debriefing with Dolls, and Jeremy was caught up in a conversation with Rosita while Wynonna and Eliza were looking after Dolls’ horse Classified (and probably snarking at each other).

“Hurts a bit,” Waverly shrugged. “But it’s strapped up so I’ll be fine.”

Nicole looked anxious. “Okay, if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” Waverly tried to reassure her, even though she had a feeling Nicole was able to see right through her.

*****

“Five, four, three, two, one, go!”

Setting her stopwatch as she took a deep breath, Waverly stood in her stirrups as Peacemaker jumped from a standstill into a gallop. All the training, and the sleepless nights, and the sweat, had all come down to this moment. And damn it, Waverly intended to enjoy it.

She relished the cheer of the crowd as she rapidly approached the first fence; a privet hedge enclosed in a huge diamond that Peacemaker jumped through without a second glance. He was back into his galloping rhythm as soon as his hooves touched the ground on the landing side, making the swinging right-handed turn to fence two, which was an innocuous bench that jumped easily. The first two fences were simple, designed to get horses into their rhythm before the first combination at fence three.

They were called the Bandstand Rails; two upright rails perpendicular to each other. They could be jumped one of two ways. Either you could play it safe and jump both straight on, turning between them on about six strides, or you could cut across both of them on a sharp angle and do it in three strides. Waverly trusted Peacemaker wholeheartedly, so she opted for the quicker route, and her horse pricked his ears and locked onto the rails, putting in two neat jumps and galloping away swiftly down the long stretch to the next fence.

Peacemaker leapt the double hedge at fence four from his gallop stride as they continued down between the avenue of trees towards the next combination of three logs. Waverly steadied him on the approach, biting back a hiss of pain as her wrist protested the action against the headstrong horse, but she needed him back under control for this test.

The logs were made out of chestnut, and were easy enough to jump, but it was the turns inbetween the fences that made it a challenge. Peacemaker eventually listened to her, flicking an ear back experimentally, and obeyed her commands, jumping all three logs carefully before settling back into his long gallop stride. Waverly patted him on the neck, hearing some spectators calling out encouragement to her. She briefly wondered if any of her twitter followers were here. Maybe even one or two of the ‘shippers’.

Shaking her head before she could get too distracted, Waverly refocused on the short run to the next two fences. They were beautifully made; a planet and a crescent moon, but they were quite odd things to be jumping. She couldn’t jump the planet in the middle for instance, and jumped right of centre over the ‘rings’ where the fence was low enough before motoring on to the moon. The ground seemed to fall away after the fence, being on top of one of the many hills, and it looked intimidating to be jumping out into space, but like the brave horse he was, Peacemaker didn’t hesitate and flew the jump.

Next, they ran sharply downhill towards the first water complex, which was the one taken straight from _The Wind in the Willows_. Waverly noticed the ground on the approach to the fence was choppy and uneven from the forty-seven competitors before her, and she grimaced, hoping the turf was holding up elsewhere on the course. There were vast numbers of spectators here, and Waverly prayed she wasn’t about to get a ducking. Thankfully, it seemed Peacemaker was having far too much fun to dump her in the water, and he bounded over all three elements with vigour before speeding away around the corner and up another hill.

It was a long pull to the next fence, and Waverly checked her stopwatch, squeaking as she twisted her wrist to see it, and saw that she was well up on the time. If they kept the pace up, there would be no chance of time penalties. She let Peacemaker coast up the hill, being careful not to push him too hard. Even so, he was breathing heavily by the time they got to the next fence, a big brush fence with a ground rail in front of it. He pushed hard with his back legs and cleared the sizeable fence before snorting proudly.

“Good boy,” Waverly praised, giving the horse a friendly pat with her good hand as they made the approach to the coffin fence at number ten and eleven. The first element was an upturned cart, followed by a deep ditch, followed by a sloping palisade on the way out, and they were all on the angle. It wasn’t a straightforward approach, but Waverly picked her line and stayed true to it, giving Peacemaker every chance of seeing and understanding what he was meant to do. Once that was behind them, there was another fairly long gallop where the horse was able to catch his breath. Glancing at her watch again, Waverly saw she was still ahead of the pace, and allowed herself a smile as they approached the Chess Table, an imposing maximum-dimensions obstacle that she saw a long stride at. She kicked on and Peacemaker flew it, landing with a puff on the other side.

They galloped downhill, and Waverly took another painful pull as Peacemaker threatened to take control of the pace. He slipped slightly turning the sharp corner to the next fence, and Waverly held in a curse as the movement jolted her injured wrist. Seeing stars, she quickly shook her head and focused on the jump, her horse clearing it easily and pushing on back into his ground-swallowing gallop as they left the obstacle in their dust.

The experts had been right, Waverly realised. The jumps themselves weren’t the issue; the hills were. Peacemaker was plenty fit enough, but the downside of that was that he was being very strong and quite difficult to slow down in his excitement. He hadn’t had a run since Badminton, and he was eager to tackle this new course. Perhaps a little too eager.

Waverly knew the next few fences would require control, and so she collected Peacemaker from a fair distance away from fence fourteen, known as The Sundials. The first element was a sloping fence at the top of a short hill, with a downhill turn to a narrow brush fence with a clock face on the front of it.

“Woah,” she told the horse, and he listened, locking onto the narrow jump at the bottom and tucking his knees up tidily as he jumped it. From then, it was a gallop through the tunnel and into the main arena where they had done their Dressage the previous day, and would do their Showjumping round tomorrow. By this stage in the afternoon, there were thousands of spectators sat in the grandstands, and they let out a roar as she emerged into the arena, galloping swiftly up to the top end where the next two fences were.

The Tower of London jumps at number fifteen and sixteen were two extravagant walls with hedges on top, with a ninety degree turn inbetween them. Jumping the first fence, Waverly pulled hard on the left rein, ignoring the spasm that went up her arm at the action, and Peacemaker picked up over the second jump, glad to have freedom of rein again as he sped away towards the exit at the corner of the arena. They swung left-handed around the back of the arena towards the water complex where Doc had fallen off.

Determined not to make the same mistake, Waverly set Peacemaker up carefully, and the horse made a measured jump into the water over the drop. Even before he landed, Waverly was already looking towards the barge jump in the water itself, which they negotiated safely, then turning again towards the narrow step out, riding positively so that there was no doubt in the horse’s mind that this was the way out of the water.

He jumped up the step with a grunt, and Waverly praised him, so focused on their success that she nearly didn’t spot the woman in a Hi-Viz jacket with the red flag waving her down. Confused, she registered that she was being asked to stop, and with a struggle, managed to bring Peacemaker down to a walk. She circled back to the woman with a frown.

“What’s going on?”

“The rider in front of you had a fall at one of the fences later on,” the woman explained. “We’re holding the course until the rider gets treatment.”

Waverly nodded, trying to remember who had been in front of her in the order. She didn’t know the name, but she was pretty sure it was one of the Belgian riders. Peacemaker snorted impatiently, and she kept him walking in circles, her stomach in knots. She’d seen it happen, but she’d never been held on course before, and it was both a blessing and a curse.

On the plus side, it meant the horse could get its breath back and be fresher when it started again. However, if they were held too long it also meant that Peacemaker could go cold or stiffen up, or switch off mentally. Luckily the next fence was a simple one, which should help him get back into his groove.

A smarting from her wrist drew Waverly’s attention to her stopwatch, and her blood ran cold as she realised it was still running.

“Shit,” she whispered, pausing the clock, but it was already too late. She didn’t know how long she had been held already, so trying to tell her time by the watch was completely useless. Trying not to panic, Waverly reasoned that at her last check she had been ahead of the pace, and so as long as she could re-establish Peacemaker’s gallop, they still had a chance of making the optimum time.

God, this was awful.

The longer she was held, the more she could feel her chances slipping away, and the more she became aware of the sharp pain in her wrist. Suddenly wishing she had a bit more than a wrist support bandage, she took her left hand off the reins, holding it to her chest protectively as she walked Peacemaker up and down the stretch between the water and the next fence.

She was acutely aware of people taking pictures of her and muttering worriedly under their breaths, and it did nothing to settle her nerves. She hoped that the fallen rider would be okay, but she still was having a hard time making her peace with her own round potentially falling apart as a result. She kept glancing towards the woman in the Hi-Viz jacket, sending up a prayer that she would be allowed to continue soon.

After what felt like an eternity, but was probably about fifteen minutes, she got the message through that she would be starting again. They gave her another countdown, which she approached at the canter, digging her heels into Peacemaker’s sides as she was freed again. She didn’t bother restarting her stopwatch, choosing instead to ride by feel.

Luckily, Peacemaker was on her side and focused immediately on the next fence, jumping it fairly well and getting all his muscles moving properly again as he surged forwards, eager to cover more ground. There was another steep uphill push to the next fence, and Waverly stood in her stirrups, taking as much weight off the horse’s back as she could.

She steadied him at the top of the hill, as the next obstacle was a huge drop down, and then they would only have a few strides to collect themselves before a narrow jump at the bottom. Waverly wrestled Peacemaker back to a trot and slipped her reins to the buckle for the colossal step down, and yet he still nearly launched himself off the top with enthusiasm. She supposed that was the downside to having a brave horse; he really wasn’t scared of _anything_. Somehow, Peacemaker still locked on to the fence after, and even though Waverly had no control over the reins, he jumped what he was meant to like he could read her mind.

“Thank you,” Waverly gasped, gathering the reins back up, and putting that drop behind her as they moved onwards down the long straight to fence twenty-one, another huge table fence that had been named The Altar.

Peacemaker leapt the table easily, not even breaking his stride, and Waverly crouched low over his neck like a jockey as she pushed him onwards towards the next jump as she chased an unknown time. The next combination was straightforward; a small sloping table, and then two strides to a narrow box with a strange round bush on top of it. The combination looked slightly unusual, but it presented no challenge to Peacemaker, and soon that was behind them.

The next jump looked like it was made out of wicker, and there were two cricket bats in front of it, so Waverly supposed it was meant to represent England’s affinity for cricket, even though she herself didn’t understand anything about the sport. It was another extremely long gallop to this fence, and Peacemaker was really starting to build up a good pace. Still, Waverly was cautious, and checked his stride so he made a neat job of jumping it, and she was glad she had. As she landed, she caught sight of the fallen Belgian rider and his horse off to the side, the man still receiving some treatment, although he didn’t look in a bad state.

The Rose Garden was next, an acute corner made out of privet hedge, and then came the clock fence; a bridge-shaped obstacle with several clock faces marking the different timezones on the face of it. Peacemaker jumped both easily. Waverly gritted her teeth. She knew they were in the final stretch of the course, but her wrist was really beginning to cause her trouble, and she just wanted to get to the finish as quickly as possible. They jumped the next fence easily too, and began the turn for home.

The second to last fence was The Saxon Village, and was comprised of two thatched cottages jumped on the angle, with three strides between the two elements. Even though he’d had a break, Peacemaker was still puffing as she approached these fences.

“Nearly home, bud,” Waverly promised, and the horse snorted at her, picking his legs up carefully over both elements. Waverly kicked on for home, practically throwing the reins at the horse’s head as she chased the clock. She had no idea whether or not she would be inside the time, but she guessed it would be close. She rounded the turn to the last fence; a big horseshoe-shaped obstacle with a hedge to jump under the Olympic rings, and pleaded with her horse for one last effort.

Peacemaker obliged, leaping the last fence and galloping for the finish flags. Waverly’s lungs burned and her wrist throbbed painfully, but she managed a grin as she looked up at the screen and saw they had stopped the clock less than a second under the optimum time.

*****

In her defence, she managed to make it back to the stables before the pain became too much.

She and Chrissy were untacking Peacemaker after his round, having cooled him off on the walk back, and one moment it was manageable, and the next Waverly almost blacked out as she slid down the wall of the stable with a cry. Chrissy was by her side in a flash, looking on in confusion as Waverly cradled her wrist.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

“Nothing,” Waverly said through gritted teeth, and Chrissy rolled her eyes.

“Bullshit, Earp, now tell me where it hurts so I can _help_.”

Waverly offered up her wrist, and Chrissy carefully went about removing the stopwatch and glove, easing up the sleeve of her base layer cautiously. Her wrist had swelled under the constricting fabric, and she had managed to limit the blood supply there as a result. Chrissy scolded Waverly for not telling her, and gently removed the now-suffocating wrist support bandage.

“Please don’t tell anyone,” Waverly pleaded. “If they make me withdraw then we’re sunk.”

Chrissy sighed. “Fine,” she allowed, “but only if you go back to the Athletes Village right now and ice it until someone gets there. You’ve probably managed to fracture it.”

“I will,” Waverly nodded gratefully, and Chrissy took her body protector and air vest, as well as her hat and gloves.

“Go,” she said. “And for God’s sake, be careful, Waves!”

She knew Chrissy was somewhat mad at her, and Waverly didn’t blame her, but she didn’t regret keeping the injury to herself. She had still managed a clear round, and she was sure she could do the same again tomorrow.

She took care to avoid the crowds on her way to the shuttle bus stop, and managed to get back to the Village practically undetected, to her vast relief. The last thing she needed was for pictures of her swollen wrist to end up on the internet.

She iced her wrist as soon as she got back to the apartment, just like she’d promised, switching the television on and resolving to watch the coverage of the Cross Country so she could still see Nicole’s round, as she felt awful about missing it in person.

By the time she switched the TV on, there were only a few more competitors until Nicole’s turn anyway, so she quickly brewed herself some tea, and then sat back and watched nervously as the time came for Nicole to ride.

It was frustrating, not being able to see the entirety of her round, and Waverly could barely watch as Nicole and Annie jumped fence after fence, seemingly making an easy job of the course. The butterflies in her stomach wouldn’t settle at all, and Waverly spent the better part of ten minutes trying not to chew her fingernails in apprehension. In the end, she needn’t have worried, as Nicole and her trusty mare delivered what was almost a foot-perfect round, save for a slip or two on the cut-up ground.

“And that’s a crucial clear round for Canada’s anchor rider, Nicole Haught,” the commentator announced. “With that, it means that Doc Holliday’s thousand penalties for his elimination are discarded, and the team finish on 121.7 penalties after the Cross Country phase, putting them into a guaranteed overnight lead over Germany. There are still six riders left, but nobody will be able to better Canada’s score today.”

Waverly whooped to an empty apartment, resisting the urge to jump up and down with excitement. She couldn’t believe it. For a day that had started so dismally, then looked in jeopardy again when Waverly was held on course, they were now narrowly ahead of the top-ranked Eventing country in the world at the Olympics! And Nicole had been the final push that the team had needed. Waverly’s heart was almost bursting with pride for her.

Just for something to do before the others got back, Waverly took a shower, making sure to be extra careful with her wrist, which admittedly did feel better for the icepack. She dried her hair and changed into a t-shirt and leggings, sitting back down on the sofa and bringing the icepack back to her wrist.

*****

“Hi!” Waverly greeted excitedly when the rest of the team returned, gesturing to the mugs that were laid out on the kitchen table. Doc and Dolls smiled and greeted her warmly, but Nicole said nothing. She glanced from Waverly’s wrist, hanging limply at her side, to the discarded icepack on the sofa, before meeting Waverly’s eyes. She looked hurt. “I made tea…” Waverly trailed off, as Nicole brushed past her into their bedroom.

Doc and Dolls exchanged looks.

“Don’t ask me,” Dolls said, in lieu of explanation. “She’s been like this ever since she spoke to Chrissy after her round.”

“Crap,” Waverly said, knowing immediately what must have happened. She grabbed one of the mugs of tea and went to her and Nicole’s shared room, tapping on the door with her knuckles. She heard a muffled ‘come in’ and so she pushed the door open to see Nicole had kicked off her boots and was standing by her bed, almost like she was waiting.

“Chrissy told you, didn’t she?” Waverly said quietly, looking at the floor.

“She did,” Nicole confirmed, sighing heavily. “I asked you earlier how your wrist was.”

“I know.”

“I’m not mad,” Nicole said, reassuring her even when things weren’t the most comfortable, and Waverly flashed back to a couple of days earlier when she herself had told Nicole the same thing. “I just… why didn’t you tell me how bad it was?”

“I didn’t want you to worry,” Waverly mumbled, and Nicole huffed out a sarcastic laugh.

“Bit late for that,” she muttered.

“What?” Waverly said, utterly lost.

“Do you realise how much I worry about you on a daily basis?” Nicole asked, and Waverly’s eyes snapped up from the floor to meet hers. “How much I care?”

“I…” Waverly was lost for words, setting the mug of tea down on her bedside table as she nervously shifted her weight from side to side.

“I’m sorry if I’m too nosy, or too involved in things I shouldn’t be,” Nicole continued, staring straight into Waverly’s eyes, and Waverly was hypnotised. “I just… I guess I want to be someone you come to about things like this, rather than feeling like you have to keep it to yourself.”

“I was scared,” Waverly said. “I was worried that you might make me tell Nedley, or an official, and then I might be out of the competition and I really don’t want that to happen.”

“Waves,” Nicole said gently, but Waverly wasn’t done.

“If it makes you feel better, I wanted to tell you,” She said, and once the words started, she couldn’t stop. “I want to tell you a lot of things, but I guess I’m just a coward. And maybe you’re right, maybe I didn’t realise how much you care. But, Nicole,” she paused, taking a deep breath, “I don’t think you realise just how much I care about you, too.”

“But-“ Nicole started, but Waverly held up a hand and she fell silent.

“Please let me finish,” Waverly said, a hint of begging in her tone, “I don’t think I can try and say this a second time.”

Nicole nodded her assent, and Waverly continued, deciding after her round today that maybe throwing caution to the wind was sometimes the best option.

“You scare me, Nicole. Not in a bad way, just…” She struggled to find the right words. “Like a rollercoaster. Or that moment in the start box when the countdown reaches one. Like a thrill. You’ve changed so many things for me, and you don’t even know it.” Nicole was looking at her with wide, open eyes, just the barest hint of a hopeful smile on her face, and it encouraged Waverly to plough on, taking a step closer. “You… make me feel like I’m flying, as cliché as that sounds, and nobody’s ever made me feel like that before, so of course I was terrified. It took me a while to realise what it was I was feeling, and why I can’t get you out of my head, but when I did…”

A smile was slowly spreading across Nicole’s face, almost like she couldn’t believe what Waverly was saying, and with her own heart hammering in her chest, Waverly decided that was probably all the talking she was able to do.

“Fuck it,” Waverly said instead, crossing over to Nicole in two long strides and bringing her uninjured hand up to cup Nicole’s cheek. They stayed like that for a beat, face to face with their eyes locked together, and then Nicole’s gaze dropped to her lips, and Waverly was positive she hadn’t imagined it that time. It was the final push she needed, and she surged forwards onto her toes to finally press her lips to Nicole’s in a heated kiss.

It felt better than Waverly could’ve ever imagined, kissing Nicole. Her lips were soft, and her grip on Waverly’s waist was even softer when she brought her hands up to rest there. Waverly had to stretch up a little, but she didn’t mind, and she happily lost herself in the taste of Nicole’s mouth.

Nicole’s lips parted willingly, pulling Waverly closer as she kissed back eagerly. Waverly felt her own mouth open under Nicole’s, and couldn’t help the moan that vibrated through her at the first press of Nicole’s tongue against her bottom lip. It was like a switch had been flipped, and her senses came alive in a way they never had before. Waverly wasn’t sure if she would be physically able to _stop_ kissing Nicole.

Waverly reached around to tangle her fingers in Nicole’s hair as she slid her tongue into her mouth, and she felt Nicole’s knees buckle. Taking advantage, Waverly pushed her gently, encouraging Nicole to sit on the bed as she settled in her lap, knees either side of Nicole’s hips. This had the added benefit of bringing them more or less level, and Waverly sucked Nicole’s bottom lip into her mouth, smiling at the sound she elicited from Nicole.

She carefully brought her left arm round to rest over Nicole’s shoulder at an angle that didn’t jar her wrist too badly, and she felt Nicole’s arms wrap around her back as they had so many times before, only this time it was different, because Waverly was pressing herself as close to Nicole as she could get, kissing her with an insatiable hunger that Nicole was only too happy to match.

Breathing heavily, Waverly hadn’t even noticed that she had begun to gently rock against Nicole until Nicole’s hands found her hips in an attempt to still them, and she broke the kiss with a strangled gasp, leaning her forehead against Waverly’s as they both tried to catch their breath.

“Shit,” Waverly panted, eyes still closed as her whole body thrummed, feeling it down to her toes.

“’Shit’ good or ‘shit’ bad?” Nicole laughed breathlessly.

“What do you think?” Waverly whispered, bringing their lips together in another kiss, this time purposefully rolling her hips into Nicole with a broken moan. Nicole squeaked into her mouth and Waverly pulled back with a lazy grin on her face. “Sorry,” she said wickedly.

“You’re not,” Nicole said.

“I’m not,” Waverly giggled, pulling back so she could look Nicole in the eye. “This is okay, right?” She asked, suddenly nervous.

Nicole nodded vigorously. “Very okay,” she reassured Waverly, biting her lip to stop the smile from splitting her face. “I just don’t want to move too fast.”

“Good plan,” Waverly said, even though her body protested. “God, we should probably talk.”

“Yeah,” Nicole said, even as she leaned forwards to steal another kiss. “How about we get through tomorrow, and have a nice, long, proper talk then?”

“Tomorrow,” Waverly repeated, remembering all at once where they were, and the job they still had to do. She laughed. “I’d forgotten.”

“Me too,” Nicole confessed. “Shall we say for now, that I like you and would very much like this to be something, if you want that too?”

“You like me?” Waverly whispered, and Nicole looked at her incredulously. “I like you too.”

“Glad we’re in agreement, then,” Nicole laughed. “We should probably tell the boys everything’s fine again.”

“We could,” Waverly considered. “Or…”

She leaned in again, kissing Nicole sweetly. Now that the earlier frenzy was over, and Waverly knew that Nicole wanted this too, she felt like she could take her time and explore. She kissed Nicole’s lips, then moved onto her cheeks, pressing a kiss to each of her dimples contentedly. She worked her way down to Nicole’s neck, leaving a trail of soft kisses and feeling Nicole swallow as she licked a stripe up her throat with the tip of her tongue.

“Waverly,” Nicole said, and her voice was strangled.

“Yes?” Waverly asked innocently, biting gently at Nicole’s pulse point.

“I need you to stop.”

“Oh,” Waverly pulled back apologetically. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have…”

“Hey,” Nicole said, hooking a finger under Waverly’s chin until they were eye to eye. “I need you to stop because otherwise I’m not going to be able to control myself, and I’m trying so hard to be chivalrous right now.”

“ _Oh_ ,” Waverly realised, pulse increasing at the implications.

“Yeah,” Nicole smiled, blushing slightly, before kissing her chastely.

Waverly sighed into the kiss, pushing back so she was standing on the ground again, and she looked down at Nicole, pupils blown and her hair a mess. Waverly supposed she looked the same.

“Bathroom,” Nicole said slowly, and Waverly got the impression she was talking mostly to herself. “I need… shower. Right.”

*****

 Waverly woke early the morning of the Showjumping phase to a disappointingly empty bed. After the… _developments_ of the previous day, as well as the worsening of Waverly’s injury, she and Nicole had reluctantly agreed that Nicole would sleep in her own bed until they’d managed to have a proper talk about what yesterday meant for them.

Waverly knew what she wanted; she wanted to be Nicole’s girlfriend and go on dates and do all the other wonderful things that came with a relationship. She now knew for sure that Nicole liked her, and wanted some sort of future with her, and that was enough for now. But she knew that, as exciting as what was finally happening between them was, it had to take a back seat until the evening, as there was the small matter of Olympic medals to be decided in the meantime.

She yawned and looked over to where Nicole was stirring, groaning as the alarm assaulted her ears. Waverly tossed a pillow at her from across the small room.

“Wake up,” She said, and Nicole scowled at her.

“Don’t wanna,” she said, narrowing her eyes deviously. Waverly smirked.

Just as she had wanted to do so many times before, she crouched down by Nicole’s bed and pouted at her.

“Not that you should need any encouragement, miss Olympic athlete,” she raised her eyebrows, “but if you don’t get up then I’ll have no-one to kiss.”

Nicole snorted and rolled her eyes playfully, but threw the covers back and sat up anyway. “You’re so cheesy.”

“Hey, it worked, didn’t it?” Waverly pointed out, leaning in and brushing their lips together in a feather-light kiss. “So maybe you’re the cheesy one.”

Nicole gasped. “Waverly Earp, I am offended at the insinuation.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Waverly grinned. “Get up, we’ve got an Olympic title to win.”

The day held added pressure for the two of them in particular, because not only was the team currently in first place, but Waverly and Nicole had also moved up to second and fourth position in the individual rankings after their clear rounds on the Cross Country course. There was still two rounds of jumping to get through before they could claim any medals, but Waverly knew they had it in them. She just hoped the horses weren’t too tired after their efforts yesterday.

By the time the team got down to the stables (even though Doc had been eliminated, he turned up with the rest of them in his Team Canada t-shirt), the grooms had finished the final preparations for the horses, and Waverly was happy to see that Peacemaker was as bright-eyed and alert as ever, and was seemingly eager to get on with the day.

“How are you?” Chrissy asked immediately, all frustration gone from the previous day.

“Still in pain,” Waverly confessed, showing her the wrist support bandage she was once again wearing. “But today won’t be as tough on it, so I’ll be fine.”

“If you say so,” Chrissy said. “Just don’t blame me if it all goes wrong.”

“I won’t,” Waverly promised. “I’m really sorry I scared you yesterday.”

Chrissy sighed. “It’s cool. Just look after yourself, alright?”

Waverly nodded, and Chrissy handed her the reins, ready for the final trot up.

All three of Canada’s remaining horses passed the trot up easily, which was a huge relief to them, as the hills on the Cross Country course had been strength-sapping, and a couple of horses were eliminated at the trot up, which meant a few teams were completely out of contention. In fact, only nine of the fourteen teams still had three riders left in the competition before the Showjumping commenced.

They would jump in a similar order to yesterday, except that all of the individual competitors would jump first, then the teams (or what was left of some of them). After that, the top twenty-five individual scores would qualify for the second round, where the solo medals would be decided. Only a maximum of three riders from each nation would be eligible for the final round, but since Canada was down to three riders anyway, Waverly supposed that wouldn’t be a problem. Any penalties the riders accumulated in the first round of Showjumping would be added to their score for the final, so there was no chance of a clean slate.

As Dolls waited for his round, Waverly watched every rider she could in an effort to see how the course was riding. Not many were managing clear rounds, as their horses looked quite tired and careless after yesterday’s excitement, but the time allowed was very tight for such a big arena, which meant the vast majority of competitors were picking up at least a couple of time penalties. The fences themselves were beautiful, and there were several references to British culture in them, including themes of Stonehenge, red Royal Mail post-boxes, and even the Beatles.

They had to wait for the first round of team riders to jump, as Doc had been their pathfinder, but when Dolls’ turn finally came, he rode a determined and precise round, only picking up three time penalties but leaving all the fences intact, which was the most important thing. Waverly breathed a sigh of relief and congratulated Dolls before going to warm Peacemaker up for their own round.

Her wrist, though not as bad as it had been by the end of the Cross Country, was still very tender, and her horse noticed her imbalance, flicking his ears back and forth and leaning to the right. Waverly sighed after he drifted right-handed over the practice fence, and pulled him up in a corner of the warm up arena.

“Listen,” she leaned down and whispered to him. “Please try and ignore everything I’m doing wrong. I trust you with this, just go in there and make yourself proud?”

She knew most people would be giving her funny looks for talking to her horse like he could understand her, but Waverly also knew that Peacemaker was smart. Sometimes, he was too smart for his own good, but she intended to use that to her advantage. She clicked her tongue at him to get him moving again, and this time he stayed straight as an arrow over the practice jump.

Before long, they were called over to the main arena, just as the rider before her was halfway through his round. She waited at the gates, seeing the sheer number of penalties the man was amassing, and winced as the horse jumped from way too far back at the second-to-last fence, scattering the poles everywhere.

“Good luck,” the steward said to her, as the gates were opened. Waverly pushed Peacemaker on into a trot, and entered the vast arena. She felt tiny.

There was a lot of ground to cover, and even though the jumps were only 1.25m in height, they would still require tactical and precise riding on a tired horse. Except Peacemaker wasn’t that tired, Waverly found, as he jumped the first fence with care. Being held on course had ultimately worked out in their favour, even though it had seemed like a disaster at the time, as her little horse was fresher than she had expected him to be.

Waverly made sure to pick up speed between fences, always aware of the tight time limit. She had a very light hold on the reins, not wanting to jar her wrist or pull at Peacemaker’s mouth, and instead used pressure from her legs, and signals from her whole body to turn him. Her horse understood, locking onto each fence confidently before jumping it cleanly. She made sure to check his stride as they approached the triple combination near the end of the course, and he popped down the line of fences as if it were a schooling exercise.

Waverly steadied him to the last, as he had gotten a bit too onward bound, and balanced him so that he could clear it. They went through the invisible beam that stopped the electronic timing, and Waverly glanced up at the scoreboard to see that they were a third of a second over the time allowed. That last pull had gotten them a time penalty.

Even though the one penalty was a bit disappointing, she had done her job and put in a good round for the team, while also managing to ensure her qualification for the final round and contest the individual medals. She patted her horse gratefully as they exited the arena, and saw Wynonna giving her a thumbs up. She grinned, deciding not to worry about the time penalty and just enjoy the fact that, barring a disaster from Nicole, Canada were going to be in the top few.

As it was shaping up just before Nicole went in the ring, she would need a clear round to secure team gold. Germany had performed well in the Showjumping, and their already narrow lead had closed to 0.8 penalties. Currently Canada were on a team score of 125.7 penalties, so there really was no room for error.

On foot, Waverly stood at Annie’s shoulder as the chestnut mare pawed the ground anxiously, knowing there was a reason for her rider’s nerves. Waverly looked up at Nicole, who was pale and wide-eyed, and tapped her knee to get her attention.

“You can do it,” she said softly, and Nicole gave her the barest hint of a smile. “Annie is in the best form of her life, and so are you. And even if something does go wrong in there, no-one will blame you, okay? We’ll all love you just the same.”

Nicole let out an unsteady breath. “Thanks,” she whispered, biting her lip nervously as the gates were opened for her. Waverly stood on the sidelines, wishing she could run and hear the results later, but unable to take her eyes off Nicole.

“Next to jump is Canada’s anchor rider, Nicole Haught,” the commentator said, as the bell rung out to signal the start of Nicole’s round. “If she jumps clear, Canada win the gold. If she has a fence down, or a time penalty, the title goes to Germany.”

Waverly groaned, knowing Nicole didn’t need to be reminded of the importance of the next couple of minutes. She felt Doc and Dolls walk up to stand either side of her, and she crossed the fingers of her good hand as Nicole approached the first fence.

She felt like she was jumping every fence with Nicole, as Annie cleared obstacle after obstacle. She tapped a couple of them, and Waverly’s heart stopped as one of the poles rocked back and forth in its cups, but thankfully, it didn’t fall. Waverly kept one eye on the clock ticking away, but it looked like Nicole had that covered, as she shaved corners and kept her horse moving quickly wherever she could. Annie jumped the triple combination much better than she had the one at Badminton, and they were on a clean sheet as they approached the last fence. The buzzing in the air was tangible, and it was like the entire grandstand were holding their collective breaths.

As soon as Annie landed over the final jump, everything exploded in a wall of sound. The cheering was deafening as Nicole stopped the clock with time to spare, punching the air in triumph as the realisation set in. On the sidelines, the rest of the team were beside themselves, and Waverly found herself enveloped in a group hug with the boys, tears springing to her eyes as it dawned on her that they were Olympic champions.

*****

Nicole’s clear round, while securing them the gold medal, had also moved her up to third place individually. With Waverly in second and Dolls in eighth, that meant all three of them would jump again that afternoon in the individual final. The grooms were already hard at work preparing the horses, and Rosita was running her hands over the animals’ muscles, making minor adjustments and making sure they were as ready as they could be to face another round of Showjumping.

Waverly and Nicole were stood together at the side of the arena, watching the builders change the course for the proceedings. It would be a shorter course, and the time limit looked to be more forgiving, but the horses had already jumped one round today, and the height of the jumps had been increased to 1.30m. It would be tough for sure.

On a high from their win, Waverly was bolder than she would normally be, wrapping her arm around Nicole’s waist and leaning into her side, thrilling at the casual way Nicole draped her arm over her shoulder in return. She didn’t care who was watching them, she just wanted to be as close to Nicole as possible.

“What would you say if I wanted to have that talk right now?” Waverly asked, and Nicole craned her head to look at her with a nervous smile.

“Depends,” she said. “What would you say if I asked you to be my girlfriend?”

Waverly hugged her tightly, burying her face in the collar of Nicole’s red Showjumping jacket. “I would say yes, and that I was going to ask you the exact same thing.”

She heard Nicole laugh breathlessly above her. “I guess great minds really do think alike.”

Waverly pulled back to smile at her. “You’re not worried about us being too focused on competing?” She asked gently, and Nicole squeezed her hand reassuringly, knowing Waverly remembered the reason she and Shae had broken up.

“I’m not worried at all,” she confirmed, and Waverly let out a sigh of relief. “Because I understand you and you understand me. Besides, we’ve managed the mutual pining while also getting selected for and then winning the Olympics, so the rest will be a cakewalk by comparison!”

“’Mutual’, eh?” Waverly nudged her with a grin, and Nicole rolled her eyes playfully.

“Wave, I’ve liked you since before we went to Lexington,” she said, the tops of her ears going red, and Waverly’s heart swelled at the knowledge. She hugged her again, turning her head to press a kiss to the side of Nicole’s neck.

“I think I’ve had feelings for you since then, too,” she mumbled. “I just didn’t realise it until after you won Badminton.”

Someone cleared their throat loudly, and they broke apart to see Wynonna watching them with her eyebrows raised. Nicole looked panicked, which Waverly found adorable since she already knew Wynonna approved of her.

“You guys do realise the day’s not over yet, right?” Wynonna said, her eyes darting back and forth between Waverly and Nicole with a smug expression, like she knew exactly what was happening. “Go jump, and then you can be nauseatingly cute after.” With that, she gave them a wink and turned on her heel, leaving them alone again.

Waverly looked at Nicole, and they both opened their mouths to speak at the same time.

“Go on a date with me,” Nicole said.

“Stay with me tonight?”

Nicole’s eyebrows shot up, and a slow smile spread across her face as it was Waverly’s turn to blush.

“Or both,” Waverly suggested weakly.

“But your hand…” Nicole trailed off worriedly, seemingly to suddenly remember her injury.

“I’ve got two of them,” Waverly replied, eyebrows knitting together when Nicole didn’t say anything. “Is that not something you want?”

Nicole’s eyes darkened. “Of course I do,” she said earnestly. “God, you have no idea how much I want to. How much I want _you_ ,” she whispered. “I just don’t want to rush you, or hurt you.”

“You won’t,” Waverly promised. “How about you take me on that date, and we see what happens?” She smiled wickedly at Nicole, even as the course had finished being built and it was time to prepare for the final round of competition, and Nicole nodded vigorously.

“Sounds like a plan,” she confirmed, seeing Jeremy approaching, and allowing herself to be pulled away towards her horse. “Good luck.”

“You too,” Waverly replied, and then Chrissy was by her side, almost bursting with excitement and nerves.

“You got this, Waves,” she promised, and Waverly let out a shaky breath.

“I really hope so.”

*****

Waverly got to watch Nicole’s round from just behind the gates, sitting astride Peacemaker, who was fidgeting in anticipation. The top twenty-five were jumping in reverse order, which meant Nicole was the third-last to do her round. The pressure was on, and this course hadn’t caught as many out as the team round’s course had, so there was little to no room for error for most of the competitors.

Waverly didn’t think she had ever been this nervous before. Between wanting Nicole to do well and wanting to jump clear herself, her brain was so close to being fried, and she knew her horse could feel it too. Peacemaker snorted impatiently, knowing he had a job to do and wanting to get on with it, and Waverly chatted to him quietly as she kept her eyes on her girlfriend.

Her _girlfriend_.

Her heart felt like it either stopped beating entirely, or was thumping quadruple time as Nicole and Annie faced down the last jump, a spread fence with the poles painted red, white and blue. Annie took off from the perfect spot and flew the fence effortlessly, galloping through the finish. Nicole didn’t punch the air as she had last time; instead she simply looked stunned, shaking her head as if she couldn’t believe it.

As she approached the gates to exit the arena, Waverly could see her eyes shining wish unshed tears as she realised she was guaranteed an individual medal. Their eyes met, and Waverly knew she was beaming. Nicole looked at her so openly and with such honest emotion, and she didn’t know how she knew it, but it was in that exact moment that Waverly realised that she might just be in love.

But she couldn’t allow herself to dwell on the revelation, as she herself was sent into the arena to jump her round. She saluted to the judges and the bell rang out. Taking a steadying breath, she pushed Peacemaker forwards into a canter, the gelding’s hooves hitting the artificial surface rhythmically, which soothed her nerves somewhat.

“Now in the arena is Waverly Earp and Peacemaker,” the commentator said in hushed tones. “They are sitting on a score of 38.1 penalties, just 1.9 penalties behind the leader, so a clear round will really put the pressure on. Already a gold medal winner this morning as part of team Canada, can this twenty-one year old add an individual medal to her name?”

Waverly appreciated the dramatic set-up, she really did, but she barely heard a word of it as she circled Peacemaker round to the first obstacle. The horse was energetic and keen, not showing any signs of fatigue after all the stress of the past few days, although Waverly supposed he was running on adrenaline, as she was.

As they cleared each fence, Waverly wasn’t sure if she had ever been this hyperaware of her surroundings before. The pain in her wrist receded to a buzzing at the back of her mind, and she heard every breath that she took, every footfall of her horse, her blood thrumming through her veins and the beating of her heart hammering against her ribcage.

She counted her strides to each fence, making sure to give Peacemaker the best chance to jump cleanly, and her horse seemed to understand, adjusting his stride accordingly to put himself in the perfect take-off spot. As they cantered towards the last fence separating them from the finish, Waverly knew every pair of eyes in the packed grandstand was on her, in addition to who knows how many television viewers, and rather than shrink away, she felt herself rise to the occasion.

Peacemaker took off and soared, and Waverly heard the clicks of press cameras as they were in mid-air. And then they were on the other side and making a dash for the finish, Waverly glancing up at the scoreboard to confirm that they were under the time allowed and clear. She put a gloved hand to cover her mouth as the crowd roared and applauded, letting Peacemaker freewheel around the perimeter of the arena in celebration.

“And she’s done it!” The commentator announced. “Waverly Earp guarantees herself the silver medal at least, and puts the pressure on for our final rider.”

Making a beeline for the exit, Waverly saw the whole team and grooms waiting. Nedley looked suspiciously like he was crying, while Doc and Dolls were shouting gleefully. Wynonna was unusually quiet, wiping at her eyes as she punched a teasing Eliza in the shoulder, and Nicole was simply looking at her with the biggest smile Waverly had ever seen.

She leapt from Peacemaker’s back as soon as she was out of the arena straight into everyone’s arms, not even caring if her wrist got jostled a bit too much in the process. As everyone congratulated her and gave her some space, Waverly removed her gloves and helmet, smoothing back the flyaway hairs, a strange ringing in her ears at the realisation that she had done all that she could do. Nicole stayed by her side, and Waverly’s right hand instantly sought out Nicole’s left, tangling their fingers together as the lead German rider entered the arena. All he had to do was knock one pole down and he would slip down past both Waverly and Nicole into third place.

Out of the corner of her eye, Waverly recognised Clare Balding and her camera crew waiting in the wings to interview whoever the winner would be. She knew that there must be at least one camera pointed at her and Nicole to catch their reaction to whatever was about to happen in the arena. She knew Nicole was aware of this too, and still she held onto her hand tightly, turning to give Waverly a reassuring smile as the bell rung to signal the start of the final round of the competition.

The German horse was a very good jumper, and Waverly felt the gold medal slipping away with every obstacle successfully negotiated. She tried to push that aside, and focus on the fact that she was already a double Olympic medallist, which was more than she had dared to hope for. Eighty thousand people held their collective breaths around the arena as the horse and rider combination cleared all three elements of the triple and approached the final fence.

Waverly had just schooled her features into some semblance of gladness when she heard a gasp echoed around the arena, and saw a singular pole clatter to the ground.

She couldn’t believe it. The German had knocked the last fence down, adding four penalty points to his score and dropping him down the leaderboard into third, which meant Nicole had moved up to second and Waverly…

Waverly had _won_.

She turned, dumbfounded, to face Nicole, who was saying something but Waverly’s ears had stopped working. She drunk in Nicole’s face, her ecstatic expression, and she knew that their faces were probably being broadcast to millions all around the world, but she didn’t care as she pulled Nicole closer by the front of her jacket and kissed her.

Nicole smiled into the kiss, and they melted into each other, Waverly feeling her girlfriend’s hands come up to frame her face. Waverly was grinning too much to continue, and broke the kiss instead, resting her forehead against Nicole’s.

“I don’t believe it,” she whispered.

“You’d better,” Nicole laughed, kissing her on the forehead fiercely as the tears suddenly came.

Sniffing and wiping her eyes, Waverly turned to see Clare approaching them with a knowing smile on her face, and she realised that she would now have to compose herself enough to give an interview. Nicole looked at Waverly questioningly, and Waverly took hold of her hand again, silently asking her to stay. Nicole understood, and looked relieved as she stood by Waverly’s side.

Thankfully, Clare kept to the topic of the competition instead of the rather public kiss, for which Waverly was eternally grateful, and she managed a few words about the win, and about the team, and about Wynonna’s support and how thankful she was to everyone. The words sounded foreign to her own ears, and Waverly knew she probably looked like an idiot, but she couldn’t find it within herself to care. Clare asked questions to Nicole too, who was also overcome with emotion, and she gripped Waverly’s hand tightly as she spoke about how proud she was of every single member of the team, both in front of and behind the scenes.

After what felt like an eternity, and also no time at all, Clare let them go. They didn’t have any time to themselves though, as they were mobbed by Chrissy, who wasn’t as tactful as Clare had been.

“Look at this!” She half-yelled, shoving her phone in their faces, the twitter app already up.

Waverly peered at the phone, overwhelmed by the multiple gifs and pictures of herself kissing Nicole in celebration. She read some of the tweets accompanying them.

‘ _omg omg omg it’s confirmed!!!_ ’

‘ _SOMEBODY SEDATE ME IM SO HAPPY FOR THEM_ ’

‘ _geT IT LADIES_ ’

‘ _THE Y DID TAHT_ ’

There were also a lot of more unintelligible tweets, and Nicole snorted with laughter. Waverly found herself actually recognising some of the twitter handles from the first time she had seen the emergence of the ‘shippers’ after Lexington.

“Oh my God,” She laughed, scrolling down.

“I think you guys are the first equestrians to break twitter,” Chrissy commented, and Waverly shook her head in disbelief. “Oh, you’re also a ‘thing’ on tumblr, too.”

“What’s tumblr?” Nicole asked.

“Don’t even go there,” Chrissy warned. “It’s better you don’t know.”

Wynonna jumped on Nicole’s back just then, and Nicole looked like she was about to have a heart attack.

“What?” She asked Wynonna, clutching her chest with wide eyes.

Wynonna shrugged. “Just hazing my sister’s girlfriend. Since I had to find out at the same time as everybody else. I’m honestly offended.”

“Like you didn’t know,” Waverly rolled her eyes.

“Sorry,” Nicole said, and Wynonna elbowed her.

“Just teasing,” she said. “Honestly, I’m glad. It means I don’t have to listen to that one mooning over you anymore.” She winked at Waverly to let her know she wasn’t being serious, and threw an arm over each of their shoulders.

“Thanks, Wynonna,” Waverly gave her sister a genuine smile.

“Hey,” Wynonna said suddenly, like she’d been struck with a brain wave. “This’ll be a great story to tell the kids, won’t it?”

“Wynonna!”

“Yeah, Waves, you can tell them about that one time you became a double Olympic gold medallist and then came out to the whole world in, like, ten seconds flat!” Wynonna laughed gleefully at both Waverly and Nicole’s red faces. “Hey, I’m just getting my shots in before I get woken up in the middle of the night by you two banging.”

“I’m begging you to stop talking,” Waverly said desperately.

*****

After the medal presentations for the team competition, and the victory lap of the arena on their horses that followed, Waverly handed her precious medal over to Chrissy (she didn’t trust Wynonna with it) and prepared herself for the individual ceremony.

She rode Peacemaker into the arena, and the horse seemed to be soaking up the applause. Waverly may be the one being presented with the gold medal, but she knew that it was only because of her horse that she had achieved that. So she reached down and wrapped her arms around his neck, full of gratitude for this incredible animal.

She dismounted and handed the reins over before taking her place in the middle of the podium, pinching herself just in case this was all a dream. Mercifully still awake, she bent her head so the gold medal could be placed around her neck, and straightened up as the national anthem of Canada was played for the second time that afternoon.

She really did try not to cry, but it was all too overwhelming. Her heart raced nervously as she considered all that could come of this. They probably wouldn’t need to worry about entry fees or the running of the yard now, and so far she hadn’t received any backlash to her and Nicole’s relationship, so maybe some sponsors could even be on the horizon. She just didn’t know.

Nicole and the unfortunate third place German rider both joined her on the top step of the podium, and she shared an excited smile with her girlfriend, wondering what the future would bring for the two of them together. She was serious about Nicole, and she knew Nicole was serious about her too, and it didn’t matter that Nicole was the first person she had fallen in love with. She knew it was probably far too early, but deep down she also knew that Nicole would be the last person she would fall in love with too.

When she looked into Nicole’s eyes as the crowd cheered on the three medallists, everything in her being told her that the feeling was mutual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say a huge thank you to every single person who has read this absurdly specific au fic, it really does mean the world to me! Especially big thanks to everyone who has left kudos, bookmarked, or left me a comment - I read them all and flail around a lot. They really are what has kept this fic going, so thank you so much, and feel free to leave more comments!
> 
> If you have any questions about the sport, horses, my references/research or really just anything at all, don't hesitate to do so through my tumblr @ ilovemyships.tumblr.com cause I love talking to people about this kind of shit!
> 
> I love you all! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Next time: Kentucky, Champ is a shit-ticket, Dolls and Doc have a bromance and a rivalry rolled into one, and someone makes waves at the competition!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, feel free to yell at me in the comments :)


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